The story of the liquidation of a fake antivirus company by the hacker NanoBaiter.
In April of last year, a hacker under the pseudonym NanoBaiter broke into the center of phone fraudsters, stole the source code of their tools and sent letters to all victims, notifying them of the fraud. According to the screenshots and files provided by the hacker, his target was the company Waredot, which deals with the so-called "antivirus fraud".
Hacker attacks on fraudulent centers have become increasingly frequent recently. The most popular vigilante hacker on YouTube, under the pseudonym "Scambaiter", for example, openly mocks such centers, regularly hacking their infrastructure and showing the entire process on video, simultaneously attracting millions of viewers. The hero of today's story also participated in a similar hacktivist campaign.
"Hello there! If you have received this email, then you have become a victim of a fake antivirus company called Waredot," NanoBaiter wrote in a letter to Waredot customers. The hacker recommended that the victims get a refund, since the company's software, to put it mildly, does not cost the stated $300-$400 per month.
Phone scam centers often target the elderly or those who are poorly versed in technology. They convince their target audience that a virus has been detected on the latter's computer, and then offer expensive antivirus software that is actually a dummy and does not work at all.
It is worth noting that this phenomenon is quite common in the United States. In March of this year, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) even conducted a separate operation against such scammers.
On its website, Waredot claims to help people "live in the digital world safely." However, NanoBaiter, which in addition to hacktivism also runs its own blog on YouTube, considered Waredot to be pure fraud.
"The source code of the antivirus is extremely primitive and will cause anger in any reasonable person who sees it and compares it with a price tag of $400," the hacker said in his letter.
In his video, NanoBaiter showed in detail how he got access to Waredot surveillance cameras and watched the work of employees in real time for almost a year, while simultaneously collecting an evidence base for accusing fraudsters.
This approach can hardly be called correct or legal, but the hacker chose to act thoroughly and harshly. The video also shows how the company is being raided by a police officer.
About a month after the video was published, the hacker contacted 404 Media and provided proof of his hacking to Waredot. "We have decided to publish the source code to finally do away with Waredot," the hacker wrote.
He also added that Waredot continued to sell its products and advertise even after the police raid, which forced the NanoBaiter hacker to go further, turning to a major online media outlet. In turn, the publication gave this case more publicity than a blogger could have achieved on his own.
In April of last year, a hacker under the pseudonym NanoBaiter broke into the center of phone fraudsters, stole the source code of their tools and sent letters to all victims, notifying them of the fraud. According to the screenshots and files provided by the hacker, his target was the company Waredot, which deals with the so-called "antivirus fraud".
Hacker attacks on fraudulent centers have become increasingly frequent recently. The most popular vigilante hacker on YouTube, under the pseudonym "Scambaiter", for example, openly mocks such centers, regularly hacking their infrastructure and showing the entire process on video, simultaneously attracting millions of viewers. The hero of today's story also participated in a similar hacktivist campaign.
"Hello there! If you have received this email, then you have become a victim of a fake antivirus company called Waredot," NanoBaiter wrote in a letter to Waredot customers. The hacker recommended that the victims get a refund, since the company's software, to put it mildly, does not cost the stated $300-$400 per month.
Phone scam centers often target the elderly or those who are poorly versed in technology. They convince their target audience that a virus has been detected on the latter's computer, and then offer expensive antivirus software that is actually a dummy and does not work at all.
It is worth noting that this phenomenon is quite common in the United States. In March of this year, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) even conducted a separate operation against such scammers.
On its website, Waredot claims to help people "live in the digital world safely." However, NanoBaiter, which in addition to hacktivism also runs its own blog on YouTube, considered Waredot to be pure fraud.
"The source code of the antivirus is extremely primitive and will cause anger in any reasonable person who sees it and compares it with a price tag of $400," the hacker said in his letter.
In his video, NanoBaiter showed in detail how he got access to Waredot surveillance cameras and watched the work of employees in real time for almost a year, while simultaneously collecting an evidence base for accusing fraudsters.
This approach can hardly be called correct or legal, but the hacker chose to act thoroughly and harshly. The video also shows how the company is being raided by a police officer.
About a month after the video was published, the hacker contacted 404 Media and provided proof of his hacking to Waredot. "We have decided to publish the source code to finally do away with Waredot," the hacker wrote.
He also added that Waredot continued to sell its products and advertise even after the police raid, which forced the NanoBaiter hacker to go further, turning to a major online media outlet. In turn, the publication gave this case more publicity than a blogger could have achieved on his own.
