Google has updated Chrome with new scam protections for users running Enhanced Protection mode in Safe Browsing. The browser now distinguishes suspicious sites from known dangerous ones and shows a milder, dismissible warning for the former. Gemini-based detection now also covers fake antivirus and fake browser update scams, beyond the te…
Researchers infiltrated a large-scale tech support scam operation that impersonates Microsoft. The operation relies on a malicious traffic distribution system (TDS) run by a Russian organization. It also abuses thousands of Cloudflare links to route victims to scam content. The article snippet gives no victim counts, losses or technical i…
Infoblox attributes the long-running Help TDS traffic distribution system, active since at least April 2017, to Hotejka, a small Russian-language affiliate program that appears to be a rebrand of ROI777 (exposed in 2018). The TDS fingerprints visitors and redirects them to browser-lock tech support scams that push victims to call centers,…
Scammers continue to exploit Bitcoin/crypto ATMs as an irreversible payment channel in impersonation fraud. According to the FBI, 13,460 such complaints in 2025 resulted in $389 million in losses, a 23% rise in volume and 58% rise in losses over 2024. Victims over 50 lost more than $302M, and those over 60 accounted for $257.4M. The scam …
Infoblox links the long-running Help TDS traffic distribution system, active since at least 2017, to the Russian-language affiliate program Hotejka, assessed with high confidence to be a rebrand of the traffic monetization operation ROI777. Help TDS supplies PHP templates and a malicious WordPress plugin that affiliates install on comprom…
On October 20, 2026, Google announced new Chrome defenses for users of Safe Browsing Enhanced Protection. They include a warning against ClickFix social engineering, in which suspicious commands copied by the user are scrubbed of personal information and sent to Safe Browsing for analysis (thehackernews.com, gbhackers.com). Google also ex…