Data breaches have become one of the most crucial threats to organizations across the globe, and they’ve only become more prevalent and serious over time.  A data breach occurs when unauthorized individuals gain access to sensitive, protected or confidential data. This stolen data can include personal information, financial records, intellectual property, and other critical information.  Stolen data is a valuable commodity in the cybercriminal world and, once acquired through data breaches, is often sold on underground markets.  A recent cryptocurrency-related scam Cisco Talos discovered highlights how data breaches are being increasingly leveraged in these types of campaigns, preying on targets’ fears around their information being out in the wild. 

Over the years, data breaches have played a pivotal role in facilitating various forms of cyber-attacks.  Adversaries are leveraging on stolen data to execute more sophisticated and damaging attacks to materialize their malicious intents. The significance of data breaches extends far beyond the immediate loss of data with the implications for security, reputation and financial stability of individuals and organizations. 

Active scam campaign likely leveraging on stolen data  

Cisco Talos observed an ongoing cryptocurrency heist scam since as early as January 2024, leveraging hybrid social engineering techniques such as vishing and spear phishing, impersonating individuals and legitimate authorities to compromise the victims by psychologically manipulating their trust with social skills.  

Impersonating investigation officers of CySEC (Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission), the scammers in this campaign are using a lure theme of refunding a fake seized amount from a fraudulent trading activity in Opteck trading platform to compromise the victims. 

Opteck is a trading platform founded in 2011 and provides binary options trading solutions for its customers. In 2017, Opteck’s database was sold on raidforums by adversaries and even today, we still see users’ Opteck login crede ..

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