Phishing scams exist all over the internet, and it’s getting increasingly tough to spot them. People lose millions of dollars each year to them, and it’s only getting worse. According to a new report, people are using Google Apps Script to launch a phishing scam that steals people’s Microsoft accounts.
A phishing scam happens when a bad actor contacts a victim through email, phone call, or text message. They claim to be a legitimate entity. If they fool the victim, they can then direct the victim to malicious websites designed to steal sensitive information.
This is why it’s always important to check phone numbers, email addresses, and websites. This ensures that you are being contacted by actual companies. Also, most companies never request sensitive information over the phone. So, if you get a call from someone claiming to be from your bank, and the person on the line asks you to put in your credit card number or ATM number, you know that it is a scam.
Google Apps Script is being used to hack Microsoft accounts
This is a pretty straightforward scam, but it was able to fool some people into giving away sensitive information. Cybersecurity researchers at Cofense spotted this scam recently, and it all starts with Google Apps Script. This is a platform that people can use to automate certain tasks within Google services. like Gmail, Google Docs, and more.
Using the platform, the bad actor would send out emails to people. These emails would contain a link to a fake invoice from Google. We’re sure that most people would know not to engage with this. Not everyone would randomly get an invoice from Google.
However, the link itself points to script[.]google[.]com. The fact that it has google.com makes it rather convincing. Once the victim clicks on the link, a window pops up telling the user that they have a pending download. Clicking on the download button will take them to the Microsoft 365 login page.
Actually, that’s not entirely true. The link takes the victim to an almost exact replica of the Microsoft 365 login page. You can see what comes next. The victim enters their login credentials into the fake site, and that information travels straight to the malicious actors. Google Apps Script only makes this hack more efficient.
So, if you randomly get an email saying that you have an invoice from Google, do not click on it. Chances are, it is a malicious phishing scam
