Specialists from Trend Micro have discovered a new service called Kopeechka that enables cybercriminals to create numerous fake social media accounts in just a few seconds. This service is now easily accessible for low-level cybercriminals and poses a threat to online security. Kopeechka helps bypass two major barriers in creating fake accounts – email verification and phone verification. With these barriers eliminated, cybercriminals can carry out disinformation campaigns, spread spam, and distribute malicious software.
An example of Kopeechka’s usage was seen in the mass registration of accounts on the Mastodon platform. This was done to conduct spam campaigns promoting fraudulent investment cryptocurrency platforms. Social networks such as Instagram and Facebook implement measures to protect against bots, including email and phone number confirmation, using unimportant IP addresses, and employing captchas. While cybercriminals can bypass captchas and check IP address reputation using automated scripts, obtaining unique email addresses and phone numbers poses a greater challenge. Kopeechka fills this gap in the process of creating fake accounts.
Kopeechka has been in operation since early 2019 and offers both a web interface and an API to its customers. In addition to popular social networks like Facebook and Instagram, the Kopeechka API has also been used for registering accounts on Discord, Telegram, and Roblox. Researchers have even discovered a Python script that can be used to create accounts on Virus Total, indicating that some users may have utilized the service to test malicious software detection.
One key feature of the Kopeechka service is access to email received from social network platforms. However, users do not have access to the inbox itself as it is controlled by Kopeechka and not third parties. Kopeechka provides reliable protection against spam and viruses and offers features like folder organization and filter application to enhance user experience. It should be noted that the service has various mail accounts, including Hotmail (now known as Outlook.com).
Hotmail, now Outlook.com, is integrated with other Microsoft services such as the calendar, contacts, and OneDrive cloud storage. Users can continue to use their existing Hotmail accounts without any changes.