Malware is a living threat whenever you are hooked to the Internet, and many people feel safe when browsing through sites such as Twitch, so they would click links that appear in the site –even if it appears in the chat. Twitch warns users to not click everything they see now.
The issue isn’t really Twitch’s fault, as the link is being distributed by what has been called “Eskimo”, which is a bot, through the chat, but it is certainly something to be wary of, because the “csgoprize” link that is being shared and advertised as the link to enter a weekly raffle for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive items, is actually a scam, that will put your Steam account in risk.
“This malware, which we call Eskimo, is able to wipe your Steam wallet, armory, and inventory dry. It even dumps your items for a discount in the Steam Community Market. Previous variants were selling items with a 12 percent discount, but a recent sample showed that they changed it to 35 percent discount. Perhaps to be able to sell the items faster.”
That’s the explanation given by f-secure.
Twitch, of course, had to warn its users, and it was done through its Twitter account.
Security PSA: Do not click the “csgoprize” link in chat. This is a phishing attempt to install malware and compromise your Steam account.^JM
— Twitch Support (@TwitchSupport) September 12, 2014
As it is explained, the way in which Eskimo works is that, when a user clicks on that link, they get prompted to a page in which they are asked for the player’s name and email. After providing this information, some software is installed in the user’s computer, and this will get access to your Steam account.
If that isn’t frightening enough, when this software gets access to any Steam account, it will start taking screenshots of it, add new “random” friends, accept any friend request that the account receives, trade items with friends (normally, these newly added ones!), buy items with any available Steam funds from the account, send trade offers, and accept trade requests.
If you haven’t figured it out, what happens is easy, all your Steam credits get spent out in digital goods that then, get traded with these new “friends”. After they get the items, those items are sold in the Steam Market for a discounted price as up as 35% of their real value.
So, please think twice before you click a link on the Internet, because this is something that doesn’t only happen over Twitch.
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The post Don’t Click Links in Twitch Chat – Malware Being Distributed That Way appeared first on Gamers Sphere.