New social engineering technique for backlinks

[Dror Harari]

Here's a new social engineering technique for getting backlinks into a site to be aware of (not that SN listeners themselves would fall to this, but their friends and family may be),

In the past, spammers attempted to insert backlinks through comments. Nowadays there's a new technique:

1. Find a site that uses royalty-free images
2. Impersonate a lawyer's office and send an email to the website owners, stating that the photo actually "belongs" to their client and that if within 5 days "credit with link" is not added to the client's website, a lawsuit will be filed (as if there is already a case number ready).
3. Oh, and of course, "we emphasize that removing the image will not solve the issue".

But, of course, this attorney's office is fictitious, their website and address are fictitious This lawyer is generally generated by AI

Example of letter: https://t.co/P0sgEoyHpE

Example of fictitious lawyer: https://t.co/pSrH8DVyGQ

And the original tweet by "The Solid Lady" that reported this:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1687182949563748353

(the tweet is in Hebrew)

Regards, /d
p.s. I sent it initially as a DM to Steve but since there's good chance he won't see it, I am posting it here too for people's awareness.

 

[Foodyelp]

I saw the same type of email last week and almost replied until I noticed the odd phrasing. They're getting sneaky with how genuine they sound.

 

[finleyoconnelle]

I've encountered similar issues, and what helped me was refining my SEO strategy. In my experience, boosting organic rankings naturally can sometimes deter spammers from targeting your site. For solid SEO services, like local SEO and link-building, you might want to consider this company. They've really improved my site’s visibility without resorting to sketchy methods.

 

[peterblaise]

Rule #1:

Never execute a transaction we did not initiate.​

Even if my own bank is calling me I hang up.
I'll call them if I need them.