Malicious ads push Lumma infostealer via fake CAPTCHA pages
A large-scale malvertising campaign distributed the Lumma Stealer info-stealing malware through fake CAPTCHA verification pages that prompt users to run PowerShell commands to verify they are not a bot.
“DeceptionAds” — Fake Captcha Driving Infostealer Infections and a Glimpse to the Dark Side of Internet Advertising
Guardio Labs tracked and analyzed a large-scale fake captcha campaign distributing a disastrous Lumma info-stealer malware that circumvents general security measures like Safe Browsing. Entirely reliant on a single ad network for propagation, this campaign showcases the core mechanisms of malvertising — delivering over 1 million daily “ad impressions” and causing thousands of daily victims to lose their accounts and money through a network of 3,000+ content sites funneling traffic. Our research dissects this campaign and provides insights into the malvertising industry’s infrastructure, tactics, and key players. Through a detailed analysis of redirect chains, obfuscated scripts, and Traffic Distribution Systems (TDS) — in collaboration with our friends at Infoblox — we traced the campaign’s origins to Monetag, a part of ProepllerAds’ network previously tracked by Infoblox under the name “Vane Viper.” Further investigation reveals how threat actors leveraged services like BeMob ad-tracking to cloak their malicious intent, showcasing the fragmented accountability in the ad ecosystem. This lack of oversight leaves internet users vulnerable and enables malvertising campaigns to flourish at scale.
ClickFix Deception: A Social Engineering Tactic to Deploy Malware
Authored by Yashvi Shah and Vignesh Dhatchanamoorthy McAfee Labs has discovered a highly unusual method of malware delivery, referred to by researchers as
