Just as Black Friday brings some of the year’s best retail shopping deals to consumers worldwide, fraudsters, too, are always on the lookout for the most worthwhile packages when it comes to fraud tools, credit cards and “borrowed” identities. Much like their legitimate real-world counterparts, fraudsters operating in the underground market offer services and various stolen wares and go to great lengths to attract potential customers. The holiday season is no different.
The following are some examples from Brazilian cybercrime circles (which are known to be abundant with fraudulent activity) that make for some jolly stocking stuffers for your everyday cybercriminal:
Figure 1: A mix of 15 compromised credit card numbers, including information about the card holder, sold for about R$250 (about $97) for Black Friday.
Figure 2: Classic, platinum and corporate credit card numbers for sale in batches of 10, costing R$50 ($19).
Figure 3: A fraudster offers mobile devices and gaming consoles for extra-low prices for Black Friday. The products, which were purchased with stolen credit cards, are shipped to a different billing address and picked up by the fraudster’s accomplice. As a final step, the product is sent to the buyer.
This article is based on research by IBM Trusteer’s Threat and Intelligence Group, which comprises leading professionals in malware and intelligence research who detect and analyze new, emerging threats in the modern cybercrime landscape.
Senior Intelligence Analyst