softare development

Phishers use fake Google Calendar invites to target victims

A financially motivated phishing campaign has targeted around 300 organizations, with over 4,000 spoofed emails sent within four weeks, according to researchers at Check Point.

The attackers manipulate sender email headers to make the messages appear as legitimate Google Calendar invites from known contacts. With over 500 million Google Calendar users, the tactic is highly effective in luring victims.

Typically, these phishing emails include a [.ics] calendar file containing a link to Google Forms or Google Drawings. Clicking the link redirects users to another, often disguised as a reCAPTCHA or support button. However, this link leads to fake cryptocurrency or Bitcoin support pages designed to carry out financial scams.

Once on these fraudulent pages, victims are asked to provide personal information, complete a fake authentication process, and submit payment details, enabling the scammers to steal sensitive data.

Google’s Recommendations:
Google advises users to enable the “known senders” setting in Google Calendar, which alerts users when an invitation comes from someone outside their contact list or with no prior email interaction.

What You Should Do:

  • Be cautious of invites with unexpected or unusual requests, such as completing CAPTCHA puzzles.
  • Hover over links to verify their destination and manually type URLs into the browser.
  • Enable two-factor authentication for all accounts, especially those containing sensitive information.

The FBI reported 298,878 phishing-related complaints in 2023 alone, resulting in $18.7 million in losses. Social engineering attacks like these are easy for cybercriminals to execute and yield significant financial returns.

While Google Calendar is currently being used as bait, attackers continuously evolve their tactics. Stay vigilant, think before you click, and don’t fall for the lure.

Start Learning Ethical Hacking

Recent Posts

npm vs. Yarn: Which Package Manager Should You Use in 2025?

When starting a JavaScript project, one of the first decisions you’ll face is: Should I…

3 hours ago

Why Learn Software Development? (And Where to Start)

Software development is one of the most valuable skills you can learn. From building websites…

4 days ago

JavaScript Multidimensional Arrays

In JavaScript, arrays are used to store multiple values in a single variable. While JavaScript…

1 week ago

What is Containerization

Containerization is a lightweight form of virtualization that packages an application and its dependencies into…

2 weeks ago

Microsoft to Replace Remote Desktop App By May 27, 2025

Microsoft is discontinuing support for its Remote Desktop app on Windows, effective May 27th. Users…

3 weeks ago

Common Pitfalls in React Native Development

Now that React Native is your go-to framework for building cross-platform mobile applications efficiently, it's…

3 weeks ago