Researchers at the cybersecurity firm ReasonLabs have discovered a credit card scam campaign estimated to have extracted tens of millions of dollars from tens of thousands of credit card holders. This scheme utilizes fake dating websites, a dedicated payment processor, and customer support services all created and maintained for the purpose of charging recurring subscription fees to the credit cards of oblivious victims. The researchers identified over 200 websites they believe are operated by a Russian crime syndicate running this fraud campaign.
The fraud scheme uncovered by the researchers depends on multiple fake websites and services operating in tandem, beginning with a large number of bogus dating and hookup sites. While the various sites have different themes, the same basic structure and design is shared across many of them. Members of the public who stumble across these sites can freely register accounts on them, though there are very few accounts registered.
An analysis of their web traffic reveals that virtually all of it comes from visitors with US IP addresses who directly navigate to the sites by entering their domain names in the address bar, rather than visitors directed there by search results or other referrals. The…
