The race is on to find tickets for deluxe showings of Christopher Nolan’s epic new movie.
Christopher Nolan's "The Odyssey" is one of the biggest movie releases of the summer. You have been hearing about it for months, but maybe you have not made it to the theater yet. Then an ad pops up promising you can watch "The Odyssey" online for free. The site looks polished. Reviews make it appear legitimate. Better yet, you can supposedly start watching within minutes.
There is one catch. You need to create an account. Then the supposedly free service asks for your credit card information to activate a trial. Enter those details, and you could soon discover there was never a movie waiting for you. The real purpose of the site was to get your financial information.
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Fake streaming sites tied to "The Odyssey" can use convincing video players, reviews and free-trial offers to trick movie fans into handing over financial information. (GC Images)
Security researchers say scammers are taking advantage of the enormous interest surrounding "The Odyssey," which Universal Pictures released in U.S. theaters in July. Here's how these fake streaming traps work and what you can do to avoid getting caught in one.
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Cybercriminals have created fake websites that claim to let you stream "The Odyssey" online for free. Some sites appear through online ads or search results. Others can be reached through questionable streaming and piracy sites. The pages can look surprisingly convincing. According to reports citing Kaspersky researchers, scammers have created versions in different languages. Some even advertise dubbed versions based on the visitor's location. Fake reviews and ratings help make the service look trustworthy.
When you try to play the movie, the website asks you to register. You may first be asked for your name and email address. Eventually, the site requests your bank card information. It claims the information is needed to activate a free trial. There is no free movie. Instead, you have handed sensitive information to people who may use it for fraudulent transactions or other scams.
The Federal Trade Commission has specifically warned that websites offering free movies and TV shows can infect computers with malware. The agency says criminals use malware to steal personal information and commit fraud. That can include login information for online accounts. The FTC also warns that malware can steal usernames and passwords as well as bank account numbers.
That makes a fake movie site more than an annoyance. Clicking the wrong download or following a bogus instruction could put information stored on your device at risk. We've seen this playbook before when we previously reported on how hackers use free streaming movies to lure people toward malware. We also covered how illegal movie downloads can hide dangerous malware. Scammers keep recycling the same strategy whenever a major release creates enough interest.
There is another reason to be careful when searching for copies of "The Odyssey" online. Cybersecurity company Malwarebytes found scams targeting people searching for pirated copies within hours of the movie's release. Researchers found cloned piracy sites displaying fake browser warnings. Other scams offered movie downloads that were actually Windows executable files disguised as video files. One fake warning claimed the browser was missing a component and encouraged visitors to click a button to fix it.
There was no missing browser component. According to Malwarebytes, clicking the button could push visitors into a malvertising network. Where they ended up could vary depending on the advertising campaign running at that moment. Researchers also found a supposed Odyssey movie download ending in .exe. That is a huge warning sign. An .exe file is a Windows program, not a video. If a website says you need to install software or fix your browser before watching a movie, leave the site.