Cybercriminals are impersonating the boss of a major British multinational company, in an attempt to trick people into giving up details bank account. The attackers are posing as Marks & Spencer CEO Steve Rowe and posting fake advertisements onlinepromising victims gift vouchers.
The ads contain a link. If victims click on this link, they will be taken to a portal (supposedly Marks & Spencer) and asked to provide their name, address, mobile phone number and details bank , including their SORT code and account number.
The fake ads, uncovered by the Parliament Street, were uploaded to Facebook by an unverified page called “Marks and Spencer Store.”
The adverts feature a man who doesn’t actually look like Steve Rowe. The man is holding shopping bags with the M & S (Marks & Spencer) logo on them. There’s also a message that says: “Hi everyone, my name is Steve Rowe and I’m the CEO of Marks and Spencer! I’ve got an announcement to make – To celebrate our 135th anniversary, we’re giving EVERYONE who shares and comments by 11.59pm tonight one of these mystery bags containing £35 worth of vouchers and some goodies! Make sure you’ve entered here [URL].”
As Infosecuritymagazine says, those who know the company's history can easily understand that the advertisement is false as Marks & Spencer was founded in 1884 when Michael Marks, a Polish refugee, started selling things in the city of Leeds, with the slogan "Don't ask the price, it's a penny." In 1894, Marks partnered with Thomas Spencer, a former treasurer of the wholesale company, Dewhirst.
“ As we head into the holiday shopping season, we can expect more of these types of scams online ,” said Tessian CEO Tim Sadler. “ Treat these ads/posts as you would a phishing email. Ask yourself if this ad seems legitimate and verify the identity of the person asking you to take action before clicking on any links .”
“And if you're still not sure, visit the site and official social media to check if the ad has been mentioned elsewhere“.
