Meta, known as Facebook before going for the name change, said Monday it is taking legal action against phishing users to steal usernames and passwords by impersonating their platform.
Doesn’t allow meta identity thieves
The lawsuit, filed in a federal court in Northern California, says more than 39,000 websites have been created since 2019 that impersonate the login pages of Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp platforms.
The meta doesn’t know who is behind the attack. But he says these websites are designed to target users of platforms under the company’s umbrella and capture sensitive information such as usernames and passwords.
These studies highlight how the world’s largest social network is trying to combat phishing. Meta’s director of platforms and litigation, Jessica Romero, said in a blog post:
Reports of phishing attacks are increasing in the industry, and we are taking this action to uncover the identities of the people behind the attack and stop their malicious behavior.
In July, the Anti-Phishing Working Group said the group had registered 260,642 phishing attacks, the highest monthly total in reporting history. In addition, according to the leader of the group, this number has doubled since 2020.
In the 21-page lawsuit, the unnamed defendants were able to hide their identities using services provided by San Diego-based technology company Ngrok “to hide internet traffic where websites are hosted”. The company alleges in the lawsuit that the defendants violated the social network’s terms of service, California’s Phishing Protection Act, and a federal law prohibiting trademark infringement.
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