New Aussie Barbie scam warning

The new Barbie movie has created a fresh wave of cyber crime, with the popular doll a cover for many scams. Here’s what to look out for.

Australians have been warned to be on the lookout for cyber crime in the form of Barbie-themed scams.

The hype of the blockbuster hit has spurred a new wave of Barbie-related scams landing in Aussies’ inboxes.

KnowBe4 security awareness advocate Jacquelin Jayne said in the first few weeks of July, computer security company McAfee reported it detected more than 100 instances of malware globally. Of that, Australia represented six per cent of cases.

Ms Jayne said there were three main scams to be weary of that mainly came in the form of phishing emails.

“These nasty emails include a Barbie-related video that hides a link directing the unsuspecting Barbie fan to either a fake website or a Discord (a form of social media) server,” she said.

“From here, the scammers offer free fake tickets to the movie or other hard to resist Barbie-related files, all of which are malware.”

Cybercriminals are turning to Barbie-related phishing emails to scam Aussies. Picture: Warner Bros. Pictures/Associated Press

Another example is an email that includes a link to download the movie in multiple languages.

“It’s a link to download, you guessed it, malware designed to steal your personal information,” she said.

And lastly, she said Aussies should be on the look out for counterfeit Barbie toys.

BrandShield, a digital brand protection company reported, “Barbie-related searches have quintupled since earlier this year and that is driving criminal activity. The number of fake Barbie websites being registered every day has ranged from 150 to 200 since the first Barbie movie trailer was released seven months ago. Those sites have names like BarbieSale, Shop-Barbie, Barbie-sales, Barbieph and other related names.”

TOP TIPS TO AVOID BARBIE SCAMS

1) Ignore all Barbie-related communications from email, texts and pop-ups on websites.

2) Only engage with official sites such as cinemas, toy stores or official Barbie sites such as Mattel or Barbie The Movie or where you can also find links to the official Barbie social media pages.

3) Regarding Barbie toys and merchandise, only deal with official online stores and do your homework before purchasing.

Originally published as New Aussie Barbie scam warning