Understanding the Wedding Invite Virus: How Scammers Target
School
Saint Leo University**We aren't endorsed by this school
Course
COM 530
Subject
Communications
Date
Dec 12, 2024
Pages
3
Uploaded by dowlingdad88
Joshua Dowling Saint Leo UniversityCOM 530 Module 1 Project 1.1 Professor Vyas KrishnaNovember 2, 2024
Project 1.1 1.Searching with your preferred search engine, find a virus that has been released in the last six months. You might find information on sites such as F-Secure.Wedding Invite Scam 2.Describe how the virus you chose worked, including the method it used to spread.The scam was spread though fake wedding invitations being sent out to victims to attend a free wedding. When the victim opened the message or email to view the details of the free wedding, they inadvertently installed malware on the the device that exploited and sent back their SMS data. This data was then sent to a Telegram bot that acted as a C2 server. 3.Describe the amount of damage caused by the virus.As of May 2024, there were roughly 67 cases of these wedding invite scams. 4.Were any specific targets identified?These wedding invite scams are primarily hitting targets defined as people who are senior citizens. Seniors are easy targets because they are generally in a state of good wealth, and they are less tech savvy than younger generations. 5.Were the perpetrators of the virus attack caught and/or prosecuted?A college student who is suspected to the original mastermind behind this scam was ar-rested in the Pinrang Regency, South Sulawesi. Two others have been arrested in Sumatra and Waco, South Sulawesi. Early indications are that this is a much larger criminal net-work. 6.What types of security warnings were issued about the virus attack?Warnings and things to watch for were sent out. The primary form of “evidence” gathering is through affected individuals self reporting to agencies and banks. 7.What measures were prescribed to defend against it?If you are suspected to be a victim of this scam, you should call 997 for the National Scam Response Centre (Malaysia). Victims are also asked to file police reports to help with the facilitation of formal investigations. 8.Would the virus most properly be described as a virus or a worm?Since this required the user of the device to click into the link for information about the wedding, I would call this a virus. A virus requires human interaction in order for it to at-tach and start “working”.
ReferencesDigital wedding invitations among latest scam tactics. thesun.my. (n.d.). https://thesun.my/malaysia-news/digital-wedding-invitations-among-latest-scam-tactics-AF12539180Kaspersky. (2020, February 7). What’s the difference between a virus and a worm?: Kaspersky. /. https://usa.kaspersky.com/resource-center/threats/computer-viruses-vs-worms?srsltid=AfmBOoqxt0NnXwx07aI-LGNW2lvtU17i0TY2israzdXMnm5UgvdElnHGTambe, A. (2024, March 13). Android malware disguised as wedding invita-tion sent to senior citizens - F-secure blog. F. https://blog.f-secure.com/theres-no-free-wedding-lunch-when-elderly-scams-are-cooking/