Spam and phishing in Q1 2019

Spam and phishing in Q1 2019

Quarterly highlights


Valentine’s Day


As per tradition, phishing timed to coincide with lovey-dovey day was aimed at swindling valuable confidential information out of starry-eyed users, such as bank card details. The topics exploited by cybercriminals ranged from online flower shops to dating sites.



But most often, users were invited to order gifts for loved ones and buy medications such as Viagra. Clicking/tapping the link in such messages resulted in the victim’s payment details being sent to the cybercriminals.



New Apple products


Late March saw the unveiling of Apple’s latest products, which fraudsters were quick to pounce on, as usual. In the run-up to the event, the number of attempts to redirect users to scam websites imitating official Apple services rose significantly.



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Growth in the number of attempts to redirect users to phishing Apple sites before the presentation (download)


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