Cybercriminals are using GitHub for large-scale fraudulent operations, creating thousands of similar fraudulent repositories. The hackers disguise them as cracked software, gaming aimbots, mods, or other “free downloads” to infect users with infostealers and steal sensitive data and cryptocurrency.
The scheme was uncovered by security researcher Tim, who found at least 1,115 fraudulent repositories on GitHub that were created using a template shared by the scammers. They contain only a readme file and an archive with malware.
The campaign originated on an undisclosed Russian-language online forum that provides step-by-step guides for anyone willing to participate and share the profits.
Scammers “are distributing hundreds of malicious GitHub repositories disguised as almost anything ‘juicy’: popular game mods, ‘free’ cracked apps like Adobe Photoshop and FL Studio, and a host of other things”, the researcher wrote in his blog.
