{"id":20822,"date":"2023-03-16T07:57:43","date_gmt":"2023-03-16T11:57:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/me-en.kaspersky.com\/blog\/copyright-infringement-backlink-scam\/20822\/"},"modified":"2023-03-17T07:38:20","modified_gmt":"2023-03-17T03:38:20","slug":"copyright-infringement-backlink-scam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/me-en.kaspersky.com\/blog\/copyright-infringement-backlink-scam\/20822\/","title":{"rendered":"Copyright infringement backlink scam"},"content":{"rendered":"

E-mail scams come in all shapes and sizes, with new ones keep appearing every day. No wonder, since this has always been the easiest and cheapest way to con people online \u2014 even for attackers who lack technical skills. In fact, all they need is a smidgen of both cunning and imagination. Today, we look at a crafty and rather original scheme that targets employees working with content \u2014 and their fears of copyright infringement.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s copyrighted! Add a link to avoid penalties<\/h2>\n

\nOne not-so-fine day, an employee receives an e-mail from what seems to be a law firm. In it, the recipient is accused of using an image belonging to the firm\u2019s client in violation of copyright. There are also links to both the image and the page where the awful misdeed is being perpetrated. Both these links are quite real, so this part of the story is readily believable.<\/p>\n

Most likely, the picture is a bog-standard stock image, and it\u2019s hard to tell straight off whether it was purchased from the rightful owner or just downloaded on the fly. And the page where it\u2019s posted probably hasn\u2019t seen an update for a while. In short, if the e-mail recipient really wants to find out whether the picture was stolen \u2014 and who bears responsibility in such case, this will likely entail lots of back-and-forth correspondence with colleagues and a few not very pleasant meetings.<\/p>\n

\"Scam<\/a>

E-mail threatening penalties for copyright infringement unless the recipient adds a link on their site<\/p><\/div>\n

However, after cowing the victim, the \u201claw firm\u201d is quick to propose a solution: its \u201cclient\u201d won\u2019t take action if, within five working days, the copyright owner is credited on the offending page with a link to the site given in the e-mail.<\/p>\n

This is followed by a second round of browbeating: the e-mail senders state categorically that simply deleting the problematic image from the site is not an option. In this case, there will be blood; rather \u2014 a lawsuit. Moreover, they frame the threat in intimidating legalese. In particular, they mention the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which does indeed cover such violations, but for some reason they refer to section 512(c) \u2014 defining the limitations on liability for online service providers \u2014 which of course has the interests of those providers in mind, not the other way round.<\/p>\n

The attackers re-stress that deleting the image is not an option, kindly reminding the victim that a copy of the infringing page can be found in the Internet Archive and used as evidence in court.<\/p>\n

The e-mail itself looks pretty official. The scammers took the time to add the real address of some building where the law firm supposedly representing the claimant supposedly has its office.<\/p>\n

\"401<\/a>

Skyscraper in downtown Austin, Texas, where the law firm is purportedly based<\/p><\/div>\n

The domain names in the sender addresses also add credence through the use of fear-inducing words like \u201claw\u201d and \u201clegal\u201d. What\u2019s more, the attackers don\u2019t stay in one place, and constantly register new domains with similarly scary names.<\/p>\n

How bad can it get?<\/h2>\n

\nBy all appearances, the attackers\u2019 goal is to get the victim to supply a \u201cguilty\u201d page with a backlink to the site they specify in the e-mail. Most likely, it\u2019s part of some shady search engine optimization (SEO) business: the more owners of legit sites can be forced to host such links, the faster the sites of some clients they\u2019re promoting will rise high in search results.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s so terrible about that, you might ask? Here\u2019s what:<\/p>\n