Cybercriminals Raking in Serious Cash from Fake Insurance Services Scam

Insurance salesmen make a considerable amount of money from commissions for every policy they sell. Taking out a policy can be costly, depending on the type of premium you're getting. But in cases where something actually does happen to you or to your loved ones, you wouldn't have to worry that much financially anymore--that is, if the policy you took out was a legitimate one.

So here's a lesson on getting insurance, just in case you didn't already know this: never take out any policies online, especially ones that claim that they're free, because they're 100% fake.

Not only that, but you'll end up paying more money to cybercriminals who will play you for a fool while siphoning cash from your bank account. This latest scam was uncovered by security firm Trusteer, who reported that the scam made use of the Tatanga malware platform and money mules.

Tatanga notifies the online banking victim via a web browser injection that their bank is offering free insurance protection against online fraud. The victim is then presented with a fake insurance account, [which] is actually a real bank account that belongs to a money mule.

In the final step, the victim is prompted to authorize a transaction that they believe is to activate the insurance coverage [by enterrng] a one-time SMS password sent to their mobile device. Unfortunately, the victim is actually approving a transfer of funds from their account to the fraudster's money mule account.

-- Trusteer

Protect your computer and your bank account by installing an anti-virus program and by updating its virus definitions regularly. Set up a strong email filter, too, so all messages from suspicious recipients will go straight to your spam folder.

Article by Hazel Chua
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