Cybercriminals usually select brands that are highly trusted.
First Nvidia was hit with a cyberattack in February, and now scammers are using the company’s upcoming 30th anniversary as part of a bitcoin scheme.
That’s according to Kaspersky, which disclosed the scheme in a blog. Nvidia develops GPUs that are popular among crypto enthusiasts.
Nvidia turns 30 next year and it’s common practice for companies to celebrate round-number anniversaries. Scammers took advantage of this by arranging fake cryptocurrency giveaways.
Fake Website Promising Bitcoin Giveaway
The Nvidia bitcoin scam involves a fake website set up to mark the occasion with a 50,000-bitcoin giveaway. The scammers ask participants to make a donation in order to enter. They’re told they can double their donation or even hit the jackpot of 50,000 bitcoins. A crypto wallet allows users to send their donation.
The page encourages potential victims to donate prior to entering the giveaway, and includes an image of Jensen Huang, Nvidia’s CEO.
The page contains a “Participate” button which, once clicked, takes the visitor to a page with detailed information on the giveaway. However, the site includes numerous spelling errors, and mistakenly uses a violet Nvidia logo instead of its official green.
Kaspersky researchers checked the scammers’ wallet on blockchain.com. However, the total account balance is far less than the 50,000 bitcoins advertised. It is unclear whether that balance has been formed by donations. However, the account history shows several transactions from unknown senders.
We couldn’t reach Nvidia for comment on the scheme.
If a victim doesn’t understand that a brand has been impersonated, it may affect the victims’ perception of the brand, according to Kaspersky. Cybercriminals usually select highly trusted brands. That’s because users have confidence in them and their reputation provides users more confidence.
Kaspersky researchers don’t know who’s behind the bitcoin scheme.
Bitcoin Schemes Usually Succeed
Unfortunately, such schemes quite often turn out to be successful. Scammers can make easy profit with minimum investment, especially if this profit comes on behalf of a trustworthy brand.
Olga Svistunova is a security expert at Kaspersky.
Kaspersky’s Olga Svistiunova
“Crypto scams that involve images of celebrities, or power brands, have become trendy these days,” she said. “We’ve witnessed campaigns with Elon Musk, Bill Gates and Pavel Durov. This time the attackers went further, launching fraudulent activity on behalf of Nvidia’s CEO and connecting it to a very special occasion for the company. Our primary advice is to carefully check all the links you follow while surfing the net, and avoid donating to untrustworthy initiatives.”
In February, Nvidia reportedly experienced a cyberattack by the Lapsus$ ransomware gang that compromised the company’s internal systems.
