{"id":2156,"date":"2025-04-09T12:41:42","date_gmt":"2025-04-09T19:41:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/onlineacademiccommunity.uvic.ca\/phishbowl\/?p=2156"},"modified":"2025-04-09T12:41:42","modified_gmt":"2025-04-09T19:41:42","slug":"beware-of-fake-captcha-scams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/onlineacademiccommunity.uvic.ca\/phishbowl\/2025\/04\/09\/beware-of-fake-captcha-scams\/","title":{"rendered":"Beware of fake CAPTCHA scams"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"\">Cybercriminals are using <\/span><span class=\"font-[700]\">fake CAPTCHA pages<\/span><span class=\"\">\u00a0to trick users into\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"font-[700]\">downloading malware<\/span><span class=\"\">\u00a0or\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"font-[700]\">compromising their systems<\/span><span class=\"\">. While\u00a0<span class=\"font-[700]\">legitimate CAPTCHAs<\/span>\u00a0help websites verify that users are human,\u00a0<span class=\"font-[700]\">malicious CAPTCHA pages<\/span>\u00a0serve a different purpose: they create a\u00a0<span class=\"font-[700]\">false sense of security<\/span>\u00a0before leading users into a\u00a0<span class=\"font-[700]\">phishing attack, malware installation, or credential theft<\/span>. This can be found on malicious websites, compromised legitimate websites or displayed by pop-ups.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>How to identify a fake CAPTCHA:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Legitimate CAPTCHA systems\u00a0<strong>never\u00a0<\/strong>require users to copy and paste text or commands into their browser or system.<\/li>\n<li>Verify the website URL before you click.<\/li>\n<li>They should never ask for login details, payment information or sensitive data.<\/li>\n<li>Avoid clicking on pop-ups or links from unsolicited emails or while browsing the internet.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If you encounter a fake CAPTCHA, please reach out to the helpdesk or contact your IT support person.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-2160 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/onlineacademiccommunity.uvic.ca\/phishbowl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4983\/2025\/04\/image-4-1.png\" alt=\"Fake CAPTCHA instructing users to paste malicious content into Windows Run.\" width=\"353\" height=\"395\" aria-describedby=\"captcha_transcript\" srcset=\"https:\/\/onlineacademiccommunity.uvic.ca\/phishbowl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4983\/2025\/04\/image-4-1.png 353w, https:\/\/onlineacademiccommunity.uvic.ca\/phishbowl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4983\/2025\/04\/image-4-1-268x300.png 268w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 353px) 100vw, 353px\" \/><\/p>\n<blockquote id=\"captcha_transcript\"><p>Complete these verification steps<\/p>\n<p>To better prove you are not a robot, please<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Press &amp; hold the Windows key + R<\/li>\n<li>In the verification windows, press Ctrl + V<\/li>\n<li>Press Enter on your keyboard to finish.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>You will observe and agree:<\/p>\n<p>I am not a robot &#8211; reCAPTCHA verification ID: 600245<\/p>\n<p>Perform the steps above to finish verification [verify button]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Cybercriminals are using fake CAPTCHA pages\u00a0to trick users into\u00a0downloading malware\u00a0or\u00a0compromising their systems. While\u00a0legitimate CAPTCHAs\u00a0help websites verify that users are human,\u00a0malicious CAPTCHA pages\u00a0serve a different purpose: they create a\u00a0false sense of security\u00a0before leading users into a\u00a0phishing attack, malware installation, or credential theft. This can be found on malicious websites, compromised legitimate websites or displayed by pop-ups.\u00a0 &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/onlineacademiccommunity.uvic.ca\/phishbowl\/2025\/04\/09\/beware-of-fake-captcha-scams\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Beware of fake CAPTCHA scams<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19355,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2156","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/onlineacademiccommunity.uvic.ca\/phishbowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2156","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/onlineacademiccommunity.uvic.ca\/phishbowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/onlineacademiccommunity.uvic.ca\/phishbowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onlineacademiccommunity.uvic.ca\/phishbowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19355"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onlineacademiccommunity.uvic.ca\/phishbowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2156"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/onlineacademiccommunity.uvic.ca\/phishbowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2156\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2161,"href":"https:\/\/onlineacademiccommunity.uvic.ca\/phishbowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2156\/revisions\/2161"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/onlineacademiccommunity.uvic.ca\/phishbowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onlineacademiccommunity.uvic.ca\/phishbowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onlineacademiccommunity.uvic.ca\/phishbowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}