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Pornhub warning as ‘FAKE sex videos’ let hackers scam 110,000 users a year

Attackers are targeting people's bank accounts

HACKERS are targeting porn lovers in an attempt to steal people's logins and sell them on the dark web for as little as £2.

Malware, phishing, and malicious spam attacks are being used to nick premium accounts that are later sold online.

 Hackers are targeting porn lovers
Getty - Contributor
Hackers are targeting porn lovers

Attacks like these aren't new, but they're on the rise, according to new research from data boffins at the New Kaspersky Lab.

They found that the number of users attacked by malware attempting to steal porn site logins has more than doubled in a year.

In all, more than 850,000 attacks were detected by the team, targeting 110,000 computers across the globe.

"Premium access credentials to porn websites might not seem the most obvious thing to steal," said security expert Oleg Kupreev.

 Attackers are gunning for users' bank details
Getty - Contributor
Attackers are gunning for users' bank details

"However, the fact that the number of sales offers relating to such credentials on the dark web is rising, and the increased efforts to distribute such malware, show that this is a profitable and popular line of illegal business."

Hackers focussed primarily on users of two websites: PornHub and XNXX.

They used fake videos on malicious websites to infect people's computers using a computer virus.

Once a user had clicked on the video, the malware was transferred and gave hackers access to people's logins.

A hacked account can go for between £2.30 and £7.69, meaning cyber criminals are stealing them in bulk to make a profit.

Attacks could open up victims to credit card fraud, as premium accounts are linked to banking information.

Some people buying the credentials simply want cheap access to online porn.

Researchers advised users protect themselves online by never using the same password for multiple websites, and paying extra attention to the website's authenticity.

Your account could be hacked even if you're not a premium members, they warned.

"Users of adult-content websites should keep in mind that such malware can remain unnoticed on a victim’s device for a long time, spying on their private actions and allowing others to do the same, without logging the user out so as not to arouse their suspicion," Kupreev said.

"Even those who simply visit the site but don’t have a premium account could be in danger, as they might risk exposing their private data."
