Online fraudsters have been so brazen as of late with banking scams and phishing scams, especially during the pandemic when businesses and consumers have relied on digital alternatives to important tasks and responsibilities.
Now they've hit once more, this time exploiting the fanaticism for superhero films, taking advantage of the excitement and hype following the release of Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios' "Spider Man: No Way Home."
'Spider-Man: No Way Home' Credit Card Scam: Cybercriminals Steal Financial Details Through Phishing Sites, Downloaders
These cybercriminals are using the blockbuster film to phish financial information, such as credit card and bank account details, from unsuspecting fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Hack Read noted.
Coinciding with the Friday release of the film, unscrupulous phishing sites have gone online, offering supposed genuine copies of the movie, researchers at the cybersecurity company Kaspersky said.
These phishing sites urge users upon registration to enter their credit card information to get full access of the film. When these users enter their credit card data, the scammers then debit the amount and steal all the payment information off the card. After the supposed payment was completed and hackers had stolen all the needed information, users could not view the movie.
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In addition, these scammers lure users into downloading such malicious files as downloaders to get copies of the film, the Kaspersky researchers further noted. But while users execute the downloader, it would infect the system with trojans and adware.
These trojans would allow fraudsters to access the infected system and do malicious activities without the user's consent, such as modifying system data or affect system performance.
'Spider-Man: No Way Home' Fan Art Used to Attract Victims
According to the researchers, the scammers do not use official promotional materials of the film to boost interest in the phishing sites. Instead, they use fan art that features all the "Spider-Man: No Way Home" actors. Using these posters, the fraudsters seek to attract the interest of fans.
Likewise, the scammers are exploiting fan theories and rumors to monetize from the film. They would give exclusive "spoilers" about the inclusion of the previous Spider-Man actors Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield in the film.
Ignoring the dangers of cyberattacks, fans would be in a hurry to unravel the secrets of the movie, with the scammers utilizing fan art and trailer clips to lure unsuspecting users to download malicious files and give their financial information, the Kaspersky researchers added.
Because of this, the researchers are encouraging users to stay alert when they visit such web pages and not download files from these unverified sites.
"Spider-Man: No Way Home" has been a hot topic among MCU fans and moviegoers since its first teaser was released earlier this year, triggering much speculation about the enticing story and the ambitious cast. It opened to a whopping $97 million in the U.S. box office on Friday, leading to an expected $250 million domestic opening weekend, Deadline reported.
The film already grossed $114.2 million in 48 international markets in two days.
