Online criminals target banking clients in Europe using V3B phishing kit – with PhotoTAN and SmartID compatibility.

Pierluigi Paganini
June 04, 2024

Resecurity uncovered a cybercriminal group providing a sophisticated phishing kit called V3B, aiming at banking clients in Europe.

Resecurity disclosed a new cybercriminal syndicate offering Phishing-as-a-Service platform that equips scammers with advanced kit called “V3B” to target banking clients in Europe.

“Currently, it is estimated that hundreds of cybercriminals are using this kit to commit fraud, leaving victims with emptied bank accounts. Their Telegram channel has over 1,255 members, a significant indicator of the extent of the malicious activity promoted by the group.” as mentioned in the report published by Resecurity. “The majority of members on this Telegram channel are skilled cybercriminals who specialize in various forms of fraud. These comprise:

Social manipulation techniques
SIM swapping plans
Banking and credit card scams”

The attackers deploy different social manipulation and spoofing strategies to deceive victims into disclosing their confidential data, which aids in real-time interaction to exploit and bypass MFA (Multi-Factor Authentication).

The kit is programmed to intercept confidential information, such as banking logins, credit card details, personal data, and OTP/TAN codes. Apart from conventional tokens (like SMS codes), the kit supports QR Codes and PhotoTAN method (which is broadly used in Germany and Switzerland), suggesting that fraudsters are keeping tabs on the latest MFA/2FA technologies adopted by banks and attempting to exploit potential bypass methods to deceive their clients.

V3B phishing kit is compatible with more than 54 financial institutions (centered in Austria, Belgium, France, Finland, Greece, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain), showcasing tailored and localized models to imitate the authentication and verification processes of primary online banking, e-commerce, cryptocurrency providers, and payment systems in Europe.

For detailed technical information about the phishing kit, refer to the report published by Resecurity: https://www.resecurity.com/blog/article/cybercriminals-attack-banking-customers-in-eu-with-v3b-phishing-kit

Pierluigi Paganini

Follow me on Twitter: @securityaffairs and Facebook and Mastodon

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, V3B)

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AndyC

Andy Curtis is an award-winning security consultant, researcher and public speaker. He has been working in the computer security industry since the early 1990s, having been employed by state and federal government, leading healthcare and banking providers across three continents. He has given talks about computer security for some of the world’s largest companies, worked with law enforcement agencies on investigations into hacking groups, and is a regular voice on TV and radio explaining IT security threats.

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