Experts are amazed at how the proven scheme brings millions of dollars in revenue.
Cybercriminals defraud college students and teachers by extorting an advance payment for piano delivery. Since the beginning of 2024, more than 125,000 messages have been sent to victims offering to give away the piano for free in connection with the death of a relative of the "seller".
As soon as the potential victim responds to the message, the scammers ask them to contact the shipping company via email to arrange delivery. The email address is also controlled by cybercriminals. The shipping company says it will ship the piano if the recipient pays the shipping fee first. After sending money, scammers stop all communication.
The Advance Fee Fraud (AFF) scheme consists of asking the victim to deposit a small amount in advance, promising in return a significantly larger payment in the future. Proofpoint analysts have tracked many similar schemes in recent years, many of which are linked to cyber groups in Nigeria.
Piano scammers are usually asked to provide personal information and make payments via cryptocurrency or platforms such as Zelle, Cash App, PayPal, and Apple Pay. After receiving the payment, the criminals disappear, leaving the victims without the promised piano and money.
According to Proofpoint, one of the Bitcoin wallets associated with the detected scam campaign raised more than $900,000, although it is unclear whether all this amount was received specifically from the piano scam or also from other criminal operations.
Proofpoint analysts managed to establish a connection with one of the scammers and get IP addresses, one of which was registered in Nigeria. Proofpoint noted that experts often see AFF scams that use computer hardware or other types of technology to force victims to pay money in advance.
It is worth noting that the offer to give the piano away for free, if the recipient pays for transportation costs, is really quite common. Therefore, many people may not be aware of the catch when they receive such an offer. However, numerous additional steps, such as communicating via multiple email addresses and sending money to third-party accounts, should alert the recipient and make them think about the legitimacy of the offer.
While it may seem unusual to use a piano as bait, this is just one of the many ways that scammers attract victims. Proofpoint was struck by the volume of funds received by fraudsters: even small requests for payment eventually add up to significant amounts when fraudsters conduct such schemes on a large scale.
Attackers carefully investigate what products people often sell online to make their offers more realistic. The scheme can work with almost any product.
Cybercriminals defraud college students and teachers by extorting an advance payment for piano delivery. Since the beginning of 2024, more than 125,000 messages have been sent to victims offering to give away the piano for free in connection with the death of a relative of the "seller".
As soon as the potential victim responds to the message, the scammers ask them to contact the shipping company via email to arrange delivery. The email address is also controlled by cybercriminals. The shipping company says it will ship the piano if the recipient pays the shipping fee first. After sending money, scammers stop all communication.
The Advance Fee Fraud (AFF) scheme consists of asking the victim to deposit a small amount in advance, promising in return a significantly larger payment in the future. Proofpoint analysts have tracked many similar schemes in recent years, many of which are linked to cyber groups in Nigeria.
Piano scammers are usually asked to provide personal information and make payments via cryptocurrency or platforms such as Zelle, Cash App, PayPal, and Apple Pay. After receiving the payment, the criminals disappear, leaving the victims without the promised piano and money.
According to Proofpoint, one of the Bitcoin wallets associated with the detected scam campaign raised more than $900,000, although it is unclear whether all this amount was received specifically from the piano scam or also from other criminal operations.
Proofpoint analysts managed to establish a connection with one of the scammers and get IP addresses, one of which was registered in Nigeria. Proofpoint noted that experts often see AFF scams that use computer hardware or other types of technology to force victims to pay money in advance.
It is worth noting that the offer to give the piano away for free, if the recipient pays for transportation costs, is really quite common. Therefore, many people may not be aware of the catch when they receive such an offer. However, numerous additional steps, such as communicating via multiple email addresses and sending money to third-party accounts, should alert the recipient and make them think about the legitimacy of the offer.
While it may seem unusual to use a piano as bait, this is just one of the many ways that scammers attract victims. Proofpoint was struck by the volume of funds received by fraudsters: even small requests for payment eventually add up to significant amounts when fraudsters conduct such schemes on a large scale.
Attackers carefully investigate what products people often sell online to make their offers more realistic. The scheme can work with almost any product.
