Malwarebytes Labs report: Software renewal scammers unmasked

[David H. Lipman]

Software renewal scammers unmasked

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Posted: March 24, 2021 by Threat Intelligence Team

We’ve been tracking a fraudulent scheme involving renewal notifications for several months now. It came to our attention because the Malwarebytes brand as well as other popular names were being used to send fake invoices via email.

The concept is simple but effective. You receive an invoice for a product you may or may not have used in the past for an usually high amount. Feeling upset or annoyed you call the phone number provided to dispute the charge and ask for your money back.

That was your first mistake. The second is letting strangers access your computer remotely for them to uninstall the product in order to avoid the charge. Before you know it your computer is locked and displaying random popups.

In this blog, we follow the trail from victim to scammer and identify one group running this shady business practice.

Fake renewal notifications

We’ve received a number of similar reports from people that have been scammed or simply wanted to alert us. It starts from an email using branding from a number of security companies, although in this blog we will focus on those that impersonate Malwarebytes.

The email includes an invoice renewal for the product stating that it has already been processed via credit card. The amount usually is in the $300 to $500 range, which is a lot more than what we normally charge.

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^** Much more in the Malwarebytes Labs report. 

 

[brad03]

Norton has also reported scammers are targeting the “norton” name as well.