Survey scams now on Pinterest too

With its rising popularity, fledgling social networking site Pinterest is now becoming a target for cyberattacks that have plagued other social sites.

 

Parties behind survey scams have started targeting users of the new site, computer security firm Trend Micro said over the weekend.

 

"The image (in one scam) prominently features the Starbucks logo with a message stating that Starbucks was giving away free gift cards to all Pinterest users. Users will then need to visit a particular site to claim the gift card," it said in a blog post.

 

Another pinned image claimed luxury brand Coach was giving away free wallets and purses to users if they visit a particular site.

 

But if users visit either of the two sites, they are redirected to websites that urge them to first re-pin the images.

 

The last step involves clicking a link that leads to a survey scam site.

 

"It is interesting to note that both the Starbucks and Coach scams lead to the same survey site," Trend Micro said.

 

Pinterest is a new social networking site where users can create their own “boards” where they can “pin” images or videos of anything they like.

 

Users can “re-pin” images and videos posted by other users to their own boards or they can use the Pin It button to grab images from various sites or videos from YouTube.

 

Same attack, different site

 

Trend Micro said the new attack appears to be merely ported from other sites.

 

"It’s the same attack we’ve seen before, but on a a different social media site. Cybercriminals use names of legitimate brands to convince users to either click a link or visit a particular site. We’ve already blocked all URLs related to these scams," it said. — TJD, GMA News