Microsoft Outlook Hackers are Stealing Crypto from Victims

Tuesday, 30/04/2019 | 13:00 GMT by Arnab Shome
  • The exact number of victims or the amount of stolen crypto are still not known.
Microsoft Outlook Hackers are Stealing Crypto from Victims
Finance Magnates

Cybercriminals are targeting Microsoft Outlook users to steal sensitive data related to their crypto Exchange accounts, a report by VICE’s Motherboard revealed.

A group of hackers already attacked Outlook accounts by stealing the credentials of a Microsoft customer support employee. That gave them access to metadata of the email users which includes the subject line of the emails, recipient or senders address and other details without the actual content. The breach was confined to any non-corporate Outlook, Hotmail, or MSN account

However, in recent days, multiple email users came out to reveal that hackers are targeting specific emails related to their cryptocurrency accounts.

Crypto exchange credentials compromised

“The hackers also had access to my inbox allowing them to password reset my Kraken.com account and withdrawal [sic] my Bitcoin ,” Jevon Ritmeester, a victim of this breach, told Motherboard.

He even shared breach notification emails and screenshots of email forwarding rules set up by the hackers with the publication. In his case, any email with the keyword “Kraken” was redirected to an unknown Gmail account.

Ritmeester lost 1 Bitcoin worth around $5,000 stored in his Kraken account to the hackers.

Many other victims also took to social media to share their experiences with the massive breach of data.

Card

Microsoft's response

Earlier, the tech giant already confirmed about the meta-data breach. Now, the company is addressing the new issue and, in an email to the publication, wrote: “Customers who believe they have been impacted beyond what was outlined in the company’s notification should contact the Microsoft support team for assistance.”

The victims, however, are not fully convinced with Microsoft's approach towards the issue.

"I think Microsoft talks about this way to lightly [sic] about this leak and I think there are a lot of users who have suffered damage in one way or another as there is a lot of sensitive information in an inbox," Ritmeester added. "I am planning to at least file a police report and thinking about holding Microsoft liable for the financial damage and the fact that a lot of my personal information may get leaked in the near future."

Cybercriminals are targeting Microsoft Outlook users to steal sensitive data related to their crypto Exchange accounts, a report by VICE’s Motherboard revealed.

A group of hackers already attacked Outlook accounts by stealing the credentials of a Microsoft customer support employee. That gave them access to metadata of the email users which includes the subject line of the emails, recipient or senders address and other details without the actual content. The breach was confined to any non-corporate Outlook, Hotmail, or MSN account

However, in recent days, multiple email users came out to reveal that hackers are targeting specific emails related to their cryptocurrency accounts.

Crypto exchange credentials compromised

“The hackers also had access to my inbox allowing them to password reset my Kraken.com account and withdrawal [sic] my Bitcoin ,” Jevon Ritmeester, a victim of this breach, told Motherboard.

He even shared breach notification emails and screenshots of email forwarding rules set up by the hackers with the publication. In his case, any email with the keyword “Kraken” was redirected to an unknown Gmail account.

Ritmeester lost 1 Bitcoin worth around $5,000 stored in his Kraken account to the hackers.

Many other victims also took to social media to share their experiences with the massive breach of data.

Card

Microsoft's response

Earlier, the tech giant already confirmed about the meta-data breach. Now, the company is addressing the new issue and, in an email to the publication, wrote: “Customers who believe they have been impacted beyond what was outlined in the company’s notification should contact the Microsoft support team for assistance.”

The victims, however, are not fully convinced with Microsoft's approach towards the issue.

"I think Microsoft talks about this way to lightly [sic] about this leak and I think there are a lot of users who have suffered damage in one way or another as there is a lot of sensitive information in an inbox," Ritmeester added. "I am planning to at least file a police report and thinking about holding Microsoft liable for the financial damage and the fact that a lot of my personal information may get leaked in the near future."

About the Author: Arnab Shome
Arnab Shome
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About the Author: Arnab Shome
Arnab is an electronics engineer-turned-financial editor. He entered the industry covering the cryptocurrency market for Finance Magnates and later expanded his reach to forex as well. He is passionate about the changing regulatory landscape on financial markets and keenly follows the disruptions in the industry with new-age technologies.
  • 6581 Articles
  • 94 Followers

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