New Phishing scam uses PayPal secure servers
Published June 16th, 2006
A cross-site scripting flaw in the PayPal Web site allows a new phishing attack to masquerade as a genuine PayPal login page with a valid security certificate, according to security researchers.
Fraudsters are exploiting the flaw to harvest personal details, including PayPal logins, Social Security numbers and credit card details, according to staff at Netcraft Ltd., an Internet services company in Bath, England. The PayPal site, owned by eBay, allows users to make online payments to one another, charged to their credit cards, and login credentials for the service are a prized target of fraudsters.
The attack works by tricking PayPal members into following a maliciously crafted link to a secure page on PayPal’s site. Anyone thinking to check the site’s security certificate at this point will see that it is a valid 256-bit certificate belonging to the site, Netcraft employee Paul Mutton wrote in the company’s blog on Friday.
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