Fake LinkedIn-profiles target Mideast users

In a disturbing development, fake accounts in LinkedIn, suspected to be from Iran, have gained access to online networks of many professionals in the Middle East including Bahrain, according to a report by US-based Dell SecureWorks.

The report says 25 fake accounts were found to be specifically created to commit various frauds. Out of this, many profiles were made after spending considerable time and effort to create a real-life persona, and other fake accounts with fewer details, used to lend credibility to other profiles. It is a shocking revelation that many of such LinkedIn profiles have over 500 connections.

The profiles were created using real company names, mostly from the US defence sector and also used job descriptions from real job-ads. Company names used for creating such profiles include US-based Teledyne, ExxonMobil , Northrop Grumman, South Korea-based Doosan, and a Kuwaiti petrochemical manufacturing company.

The report released last week says, “While tracking a suspected Iran-based threat group known as Threat Group-2889[1] (TG-2889), Dell SecureWorks Counter Threat Unit (CTU) researchers uncovered a network of fake LinkedIn profiles. These convincing profiles form a self-referenced network of seemingly established LinkedIn users. CTU researchers assess with high confidence the purpose of this network is to target potential victims through social engineering. Most of the legitimate LinkedIn accounts associated with the fake accounts belong to individuals in the Middle East.”

The most disturbing aspect of these activities is that a significant minority of the identified-targets work for Middle Eastern governments, defence organizations and telecommunication sector based in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia.

Such a focus by these fraudsters indicates efforts to acquire data held by these organizations or for gaining access to the services they operate, the report adds.