Fraudsters are spreading scams on the console game “The Last of Us,” which, according to cybersecurity solutions firm Kaspersky, is extremely rare. But its recent discovery is that cybercriminals lure victims to free downloads of the series and then infect their devices with malware.
Kaspersky researchers found a site that offers to download “The Last of Us Part II” — on PC. Users who don’t know that this version of the game is not available for computers yet will download a malicious file instead of the real game. This malicious file can hide on the computer undetected for years.
The company’s researchers also discovered a phishing site that offers an activation code for “The Last of Us.” To download the file with the code, users are asked to choose one of the “gifts” that they will receive together with the game. Users will be asked to provide banking or financial credentials to pay a commission fee.
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“By giving their data to the scammers, fans will have money stolen and will be left with nothing, while their personal data will later be used in other fraud schemes,” the company said.
To avoid falling victim to malicious programs and scams, Kaspersky recommends that users:
- Avoid links promising early viewings of films or TV series. If you have any doubts about the authenticity of the content, check with your entertainment provider.
- Check the authenticity of the website before entering personal data and only use official, trusted web pages to watch or download movies. Double-check URL formats and company name spellings.
- Pay attention to the extensions of files you are downloading. A video file will never have a .exe or .msi extension.
- Use a reliable security solution, such as Kaspersky Security Cloud, that identifies malicious attachments and blocks phishing sites.