Fake Commonwealth Bank Ads Used to Lure Scam Victims

A criminal network has used a major online ad campaign to trick investors out of their money in a scam that affected people in 25 countries including Australia.

ATM machines are seen outside a branch of the Commonwealth Bank in Melbourne, Australia, on Aug. 8, 2018. William West/AFP via Getty Images

Australians are among the many thousands of people fooled by a sophisticated “malvertising” campaign posing as the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), and Australian journalists.

A developer of antivirus and antimalware software, Bitdefender, describes the scam as a “Meta-powered investment fraud ecosystem” that spanned 25 countries.