The 4th season of Stranger Things was released in early July, immediately a cyber attack that targeted fans of the series appeared in cyberspace.
As one of the most awaited seasons by loyal fans, it's not surprising that Stranger Things immediately jumped into the ranks of the most popular series this month. Unfortunately, the enthusiasm of his fans is being blamed by scammers.
Kaspersky researchers found many examples of spam emails and phishing pages designed to steal fans' money and personal information.
Even though a new episode has been released, fans are still not safe, because not all of them choose to watch the series on the official website. When users refuse to pay for a subscription to a streaming service and choose to watch it via an illegitimate site, they end up paying a higher price by losing their personal information and banking card data.
Several cybercriminals have offered users "watch new episodes for only USD 1." To access this offer, users are required to register a new account and enter their address and bank details. After entering the information, the fraudster then drains the victim's account, and without giving access to the serial.
Kaspersky experts have detected spam emails that also abuse the popularity of Stranger Things. These emails are used to sell products of suspicious quality and are distributed via promotional emails without the recipient's consent.
For example, in one of the spam emails, users were given the opportunity to purchase a limited edition graphic t-shirt related to the latest season of Stranger Things. This site supports all language and currency features for payments.
This may not be a phishing page, but the fact that this product's advertisement is promoted via spam and the newly created domain raises suspicions about the safety of the purchase.
"The fourth season finale was a roller coaster for many fans, myself included, as a personal fan of the show. However, the enthusiasm of Stranger Things fans was big enough to attract the attention of cybercriminals and scammers who are always trying to make money from this euphoria. Fans should be careful because choosing to save money on subscribing to streaming services can cause them to lose more," explains Olga Svistunova, security expert at Kaspersky, in a statement received by us.
How to avoid fraud in cyberspace according to Kaspersky:
Avoid links that promise to premiere a movie or TV series.
Check the authenticity of the website before entering personal data, and only use official and trusted web pages to watch or download movies.
Double-check the URL format and spelling of the company name
Pay attention to the extension of the downloaded file. Video files will never have an .exe or .msi extension
Use a reliable security solution