Cyberbsecurity – Image by VIN JD on Pixabay
(BUCHAREST) – Fraudsters behind the ‘EU Business Register’ scam are causing havoc once again, cybersecurity technology company Bitdefender warned Thursday, targeting businesses and organisations across the globe.
The research, on a phishing scam which has targeted global businesses for years, should serve as a warning for EU businesses who could fall victim to it, say Bitdefender.
The 2022 iteration of the scam, picked up by Bitdefender’s Antispam Lab researchers this week, has proliferated in North America, Europe and Asia with particular spikes in the US (24%), Ireland (26%), Sweden (18%) Denmark (14%), Romania, the UK and Germany (2%).
The phishing campaign email urges global businesses to register to the ‘EU Business Register’ (a fictitious entity) at no cost. The email asks the organization to fill out an attached form and then to send it back. They also follow up asking for three annual payments of 995 Euros for registry fees. This form looks official-looking but the fine print hides the real intent behind the operations.
The office European Business Registry Association has issued an alert clarifying that there is no relation between the two organisations.
EUbusiness.com also reminds users that it has nothing to do with the scam despite the similarity in name.
The email scam has no malware payload, say Bitdefender, but is designed to steal valuable information and potentially garner payments by invoking fear of legal litigation.
Bitdefender’s advice for businesses is to ignore and immediately delete this or any similar emails: “There’s no telling where your organization’s information will end up in the first place. Fraudsters could use any data collected to target your business with more dangerous social engineering schemes that could cost you more than just 1,000 Euros.”
