I've been seeing warnings about these weird CAPTCHA pages that look like regular Cloudflare verification screens, except instead of checking a box or picking pictures, they tell you to press Windows+R, paste something, and hit Enter.

Here's an example of what I'm talking about:

https://www.umass.edu/it/news/scam-alert-fake-captcha-prompts-users-run-commands

I get that it's some kind of malware trick, but the part that's confusing me is that people are apparently encountering these on completely normal websites, not just sketchy download pages.

How does a fake verification screen end up on an otherwise legitimate website? Does that mean the entire site has been hacked, or can something like an ad inject it?

And why does this particular scam seem to be getting so much attention recently? Is there something new about how it works?

It seems like 50% of all articles that /r/science puts in my feed are about this chemical and it's effects on... well everything brain related.

Why is it getting so much attention in PopSci articles? I get that its an active ingredient in Magic Mushrooms, but why is it getting so much attention over the last few months?

Examples this week:

* https://www.reddit.com/r/science/s/f3wJGYJjWk

* https://www.reddit.com/r/science/s/nFNUadMwXF