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Piracy Phishing Scam Targets US ISPs and Subscribers (torrentfreak.com)

Posted by msmash on from the cat-and-mouse-race dept.

According to a report on TorrentFreak, an elaborate piracy phishing operating is tageting US ISPs and subscribers. Scammers are reportedly masquerading as anti-piracy company IP-Echelon and rightholders such as Lionsgate to send fake DMCA notices and settlement demands to ISPs. From the report:TorrentFreak was alerted to a takedown notice Lionsgate purportedly sent to a Cox subscriber, for allegedly downloading a pirated copy of the movie Allegiant. Under threat of a lawsuit, the subscriber was asked to pay a $150 settlement fee. This request is unique as neither Lionsgate nor its tracking company IP-Echelon is known to engage in this practice. When we contacted IP-Echelon about Lionsgate's supposed settlement offer, we heard to our surprise that these emails are part of a large phishing scam, which has at least one large ISPs fooled. "The notices are fake and not sent by us. It's a phishing scam," IP-Echelon informed TorrentFreak. For a phishing scam the fake DMCA notice does its job well. At first sight the email appears to be legit, and for Cox Communications it was real enough to forward it to their customers.U.S. law enforcement has been notified and is currently investigating the matter.

20 comments

  1. scam masquerades as legal scam by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Instant legitimacy!

    1. Re:scam masquerades as legal scam by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      What I want to know is, is the phisher correct, claiming that that particular Cox customer accessed the movie illegally? If the claim is correct, then how id the phisher know? What if the phisher is operating a site offering illegal downloads?

    2. Re:scam masquerades as legal scam by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What I want to know is, is the phisher correct, claiming that that particular Cox customer accessed the movie illegally? If the claim is correct, then how id the phisher know? What if the phisher is operating a site offering illegal downloads?

      What if you use a fucking VPN so you don't have these problems?

    3. Re:scam masquerades as legal scam by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      They are sending the messages directly to the ISP. The isp is then forwarding the message to whoever owns it. It's dead simple to find out which ISP owns which IP address.

      The phishing part comes in from the X% of people who don't realize copyright infringement warnings don't look like that and will pay the money. Also the ISP being dumb enough to forward it in the first place.

      The notices I've seen come in at work have been from Irdeto. And basically don't even ask for the identity, but simply say to warn them to knock it off, and cut their access off if they don't. No threat of lawsuits or anything, just a simple "This IP did stuff, get it to stop".

    4. Re:scam masquerades as legal scam by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why don't you stick your head back in your ass and leave it there until you die?

      Help a nigga out.

      Sincerely,
      Darwin

  2. Not even illegal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    See, the DMCA operates on a "good faith belief that you represent the copyright holder."

    1. Re:Not even illegal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ... "good faith ... "

      Presumably, prosecuting an absence of "good faith" will expose Sony and others, who claim copyright they couldn't possibly have, over someone's work.

    2. Re:Not even illegal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nah, they just have to believe they own the infringed work. That is, I could take my trivial copyright on this very post and make some bogus claim that whatever else infringed upon my copyright. What I couldn't do is pretend to have the copyright on one of Sony's songs (or whatever else I do not have copyright on) and claim that something else infringed on Sony's songs... even if it did infringe.

      The only lie they were concerned about was a lie about the infringed work. Which is a bit silly to me, but there you have it.

  3. Yeah..we'll get to that..right after HRC's server by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 1

    >> U.S. law enforcement has been notified and is currently investigating the matter.

    Well it certainly sounds like "top men" are on it then! I'm sure they'll hop on it just as soon as they get Hillary's email server matter cleared up. How does December 2016 sound for you?

  4. Hang on by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    So how is that different than the RIAA phishing grannies with their letters years ago?

  5. Re:Yeah..we'll get to that..right after HRC's serv by pr0fessor · · Score: 1

    So what exactly happens if someone does issue a dmca notice and settlement demand in error, is false, or fraudulent?

  6. Re:Yeah..we'll get to that..right after HRC's serv by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    So what exactly happens if someone does issue a dmca notice and settlement demand in error, is false, or fraudulent?

    As Apu said to Homer: "Mr. Simpson, I have asked you time and time again not to make shambles out of my candy isle! You leave me no choice, but to ask you once again, not to make shambles out of my candy isle."

  7. Too funny by JustAnotherOldGuy · · Score: 2

    There's a certain delicious slipperiness to this whole thing. I was tempted to say "irony" (of which there is some present) but the idea of one scammer masquerading as another scammer is actually pretty damn funny.

    It's like Bernard Madoff sending out letters pretending to be Frank Abagnale, lol.

    --
    Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
    1. Re:Too funny by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There's a certain delicious slipperiness to this whole thing

      That's what the ga.y nigger said about your lubricated butt hole.

    2. Re:Too funny by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      a black guy from georgia? why would he say that?

    3. Re:Too funny by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The real funny thing is that the only thing to tip you off that it's a scam is that they're asking for too LITTLE.

  8. yup went and looked in the crap copyright folder. by Revek · · Score: 1

    Got a few of them in there. When those losers pay us to be their process server i'll roll a truck.

  9. in other words by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Scammers are posing as scammers to scam people

  10. Not unusual for such a crappy company by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Cox is a lousy company anyway. They block my emails to my friend in the US with a @cox.com address just because I am mailing from Germany.

    They do have an elaborate web form one needs to fill out to request mail server IP unblocking.

    Then they ignore it and go on blocking me. Go figure.