Trump coin scam delivers malware that hijacks your device

Cybercriminals started to exploit Trump’s cryptocurrency to take over user devices in just two minutes.

The US president’s freshly launched cryptocurrency is already being exploited by cybercriminals to spread malware and steal user data.

A fraudulent email impersonating Binance invites potential victims to earn up to 2000 Trump coins. The user is tempted to earn a designated amount of coins by installing the Binance desktop app, registering, and starting to trade.

According to researchers from security firm Cofense, once the victim is tempted to click the yellow download button, they are taken to a fake Trump coin page that looks to be part of the Binance platform. The page has a suspicious binance-web3.com.ru URL and includes further installation steps.

However, instead of installing the Binance app, users end up with ConnectWise remote access trojan (RAT) malware. Just minutes after the installation, the ConnectWise RAT connects to a command-and-control (C2) server, and threat actors can take remote control of infected devices.

Once connected, the attacker targets saved passwords in apps like Microsoft Edge to compensate for ConnectWise RAT's limited data-stealing abilities.

The same ConnectWise malware was also recently found stealing data from victims who fell for fake LinkedIn email notifications. Clicking the “Read More” or “Reply To” buttons in these emails triggered the malware download.

The exploitation of the Trump coin is an attempt to catch the hype wave. The president launched the $Trump meme coin on January 17th. By January 19th, just before his inauguration, it had skyrocketed to a peak market value of over $14.5 billion. However, it has since dropped by two-thirds.

Entities associated with President Donald Trump's cryptocurrency amassed nearly $100 million in trading fees within the first two weeks of its launch.

Trump has vowed to be the first “crypto president,” aiming to transform America into the “crypto capital of the planet” by revamping regulations and advocating for digital asset ownership.