In 2024, Facebook and Instagram were the main distribution channels for fake ads, but many posts were also shared on Messenger and Threads. The main goal of fraudsters is to lure victims to phishing websites that collect their personal information. This was reported to UNN by Nikita Veselkov, head of ESET's SOC team for cybercrime and digital threats in Ukraine.
In 2024, social media was flooded with fraudulent ads promoting "secret" investment opportunities, "miracle" dietary supplements, and legal assistance. To make these offers more convincing, attackers disguise themselves as brands of local and global companies or use artificially intelligent dipshots of famous personalities allegedly recommending the advertised products
According to him, the main goal of fraudsters is to lure victims to phishing websites that collect their personal information.
"This information is then used to extort money from victims. The detection of one such threat, according to ESET telemetry, has increased by 335% over the past six months. In May-November 2024, ESET products blocked more than 8,500 domains and tens of thousands of access attempts. On average, ESET systems detected more than 100 such new addresses every day," Veselkov said.
The expert named the main channels of distribution of fake advertising.
"The main distribution channels for these fake ads were Facebook and Instagram, but according to the advertising information available in the Meta Ad Library, many posts were also distributed via Messenger and Threads," Veselkov said.
In addition, he noted that fraudulent ads appeared on the X and YouTube platforms.
"TikTok has continued to spread messages with phishing links, for example, to get a verification badge or increase the number of followers, bot accounts to steal data from the account , advertising malicious sites or applications, and fake profiles of public people," the expert said.
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Veselkov explained how to avoid becoming a victim of phishing fraud.
"To avoid such threats, first of all, enable two-factor authentication in all social networks, which will prevent an attacker from gaining access to your account in case of login data theft. Also, be careful with tempting offers, follow only verified celebrity accounts, do not click on suspicious links and do not enter confidential data on unknown sites," Veselkov said.
He also noted that children remain an attractive target for social media fraudsters due to their gullibility.
"That's why we should teach children not to click on shocking headlines about influencers and links to receive gifts from unknown senders, and not to trust offers to buy expensive things at fairly low prices," Veselkov said.