Scammers Comply with the Rebranding of Twitter to X, to Distribute Malware

Authored by: Vallabh Chole and Yerko Grbic

On July twenty third, 2023, Elon Musk introduced that the social networking website, Twitter was rebranding as “X”. The information propelled Twitter and X to realize headlines and develop into the highest trending subjects on well-liked social media platforms. 

Scammers pounced on this chance and began renaming numerous hacked YouTube and different social media accounts to “twitter-x” and “twitter fund” to advertise rip-off hyperlinks with new X branding. 

Determine 1. Twitter-X-themed YouTube Reside Stream by scammer 

Determine 2. Twitter X Crypto Rip-off 

This sort of rip-off has been energetic for some time and makes use of an modern method to lure victims. To make this rip-off extra genuine, attackers goal well-known Influencers with sponsorship emails that comprise password-stealing malware as e-mail attachments. When password stealer malware is executed, the influencer’s session cookies (distinctive entry tokens) are stolen and uploaded to attacker-controlled methods. 

Determine 3. Malware Circulate Chart  

After the influencer’s account has been compromised, the scammer begins to rename channels, on this case to “Twitter CEO” and then the scammers begin to reside stream an Elon Musk video on YouTube. They put up internet hyperlinks for new rip-off websites in chat, and goal YouTube accounts with a giant variety of subscribers. On different social media platforms, akin to Instagram and Twitter, they use compromised accounts to observe customers and put up screenshots with captions, akin to “Thanks Mr.Elon”. If we lavatoryok for these phrases on Instagram, we observe hundreds of related put ups. Compromised accounts are additionally used to put up movies for software program/recreation functions, that are malware masquerading as legit software program or recreations. These movies display methods to obtain and execute files, that are frequent password-stealing malware, and distributed via compromised social media accounts.

Safety with McAfee+: 

 McAfee+ gives all-in-one on-line safety to your identification, privateness, and safety. With McAfee+, you’ll really feel safer on-line since you’ll have the instruments, steering, and assist to take the steps to be safer on-line. McAfee protects towards all these rip-off websites with Net Advisor safety that detects malicious web sites.

Determine 4. McAfee WebAdvisor detection 

Under is a detection heatmap for rip-off URL’s focusing on twitter-x and selling crypto scams.   

Determine 5. Rip-off URL Detection Heatmap 

Determine 6. Password stealer Heatmap 

Indicators of Compromise: 

Introducing McAfee+

Id theft safety and privateness to your digital life

Obtain McAfee+ Now