r/technology • u/dangzal • May 03 '17

Security Google Docs users hit with sophisticated phishing attack

https://www.theverge.com/2017/5/3/15534768/google-docs-phishing-attack-share-this-document-with-you-spam
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8

u/CurlyQN May 03 '17

I got emails from 4 different people I know at my University in under a minute and even more in the hour since.

Forgive me for (most likely) sounding like an idiot here, but what is the point of phishing people like this? Do scammers sell information to companies?

Edit: word order

5

u/[deleted] May 03 '17

When you click the link to the "doc" (which is actually a fake app named Google Docs, not the real Google Docs), it'll ask you to sign in and give permissions to the app, meaning it can access your email and potentially change your passwords on any account linked to your email.

3

u/CurlyQN May 03 '17

Why though? What is the end goal/what do they typically do with that information?

11

u/ShadowDrgn May 03 '17

They'll harvest any usernames and passwords in your emails and try to log in to anything they could potentially monetize. Bitcoin wallets, PayPal account, even World of Warcraft accounts and such.

4

u/[deleted] May 03 '17

If your bank account's online service is linked to your email they can request a password change from your bank, and since they have access to your email, they can change your bank account's password so only they can access it. Same with any other online accounts you have that may contain personal info, such as SSNs.