Cyberlover

 

Scambusters are always a good source of early warning on new scams. This morning I received this from them about a new product called Cyberlover.

So watch out.

A new class of bots (software robots) have found their way onto online dating forums, and we predict this is just the beginning of a new class of scams that will probably grow very fast.

These programs mimic online flirting with the goal of getting victims to provide personal information.

The first of these programs is called CyberLover.
Unfortunately, CyberLover is good enough at automating its chat so that victims have a hard time recognizing that it's an automated robot rather than a real person.

Further, CyberLover can establish up to 10 "relationships" in 30 minutes. That means that scammers can use this software to automate the scamming process: rather than having to spend time themselves, they can unleash this software to find hundreds or thousands of victims at a time.

CyberLover can be used for financial and identity theft, as well as leading to "personal" websites that deliver malware.

Currently, CyberLover is targeted at Russian dating sites.
However, it won't be long until we see similar bots in other countries (probably next month).

Action: Always use common sense. Don't provide financial or other personal information. And be on the alert that you may be flirting with a robot. ;-)