In a concerning development, Brazil’s widely used PIX instant payment system has fallen victim to a malicious malvertising campaign involving the GoPIX malware. Kaspersky, who has been monitoring this campaign since December 2022, disclosed that the attackers employ deceptive ads to target users searching for “WhatsApp web” on search engines.
Furthermore, these ads lead users to a malware landing page via redirection, a tactic typical of recent malvertising campaigns. A notable aspect is the malware’s adaptability, offering different download URLs based on whether a specific port is open on the user’s machine.
When users are directed to the malware landing page, they encounter an added layer of security evasion, as the malware leverages a legitimate fraud prevention solution, IPQualityScore, to distinguish between human users and bots. If users pass this verification, they are presented with a fake WhatsApp download page to encourage them to install a malicious program. Intriguingly, the malware has two different download paths based on port detection, demonstrating a deliberate effort to bypass security software. The primary purpose of the installer is to initiate the GoPIX malware through a technique known as process hollowing.
GoPIX acts as a clipboard-stealing malware, intercepting PIX payment requests and replacing them with the attacker’s controlled PIX string. Moreover, the malware can substitute Bitcoin and Ethereum wallet addresses, although these are hardcoded into the malware rather than retrieved from a command-and-control server.
This campaign underscores the growing threat to users searching for messaging apps on search engines, with similar attacks emerging in the Hong Kong region targeting users with deceptive Google search ads. Meanwhile, the cybersecurity landscape is seeing an increase in information stealers and crimeware-as-a-service offerings, posing a growing risk to organizations and individuals alike.
