Gov't agency warns of data theft risks from fake LINE sites

Taipei, March 29 (CNA) Taiwan's Administration for Cyber Security recently released a list of nine websites that maliciously pose as the official pages of social media mobile application LINE, warning of possible hacking and data breaches when visiting and downloading software from those sites.

The administration, part of Taiwan's Ministry of Digital Affairs (MODA), said it discovered several cases of people trying to download desktop versions of LINE falling into data theft traps.

The administration stated that LINE was likely selected by threat actors due to its popularity as the communications app of choice in Taiwan, adding that the cyberattacks using the brand have shown signs of becoming increasingly organized.

Such attacks are not only frequent but are also becoming more refined, it said.

According to the administration, most of the cases saw victims misdirected to visit a fake LINE website when attempting to download a desktop software version of LINE.

Users were redirected to such malicious sites through paid advertising and search engine optimization poisoning, whereby a user's search engine gets manipulated to prioritize deceptive websites, it said.

With LINE, the administration said threat actors created sites involving the word LINE into the sites' addresses to make it hard for victims to doubt otherwise.

Additionally, threat actors would also use keywords such as "latest edition" or even pretend to offer free emoji stickers to trick users.

According to the administration, once a fake version of the LINE desktop application has been downloaded onto a computer, victims could get a frozen screen, or have their computers hacked and software manipulated to the point where a button on a keyboard could activate a computer camera, or perhaps even surrender the control of a computer to a hacker.

Subsequently, victims could have their personal information, such as passwords, stolen.

To prevent such data theft, the administration said the general public should only download applications from official websites or the retailers of their phones, such as Apple's App Store.

Moreover, the administration said legitimate apps would not ask users to access links via email or chats.

When it comes to LINE, the administration went on to add that if concerns of validity arise, users should check their LINE mobile application on their smart devices to see if there have been any suspicious logins.

Currently, the administration has released the following nine malicious websites that are posing as LINE websites: linekr.com, line-china.com, line-tw.com, line-zhcn.com, line-ios.com, linecl.com, linerm.com, lineoe.com, and line-tww.com

The administration urged the public to report any fake sites to MODA's scam-websites reporting page or the National Police Agency's 165 scam-reporting phone hotline.