Unusual file names and links have long been recognized as a sign of phishing attacks. But hackers are now using visually similar characters from foreign alphabets to trick even tech-savvy users into clicking.
Hackers are making use of deceptive-looking Japanese characters to confuse victims and infect Booking.com users with malware.
The phishing campaign, first spotted by Bleeping Computer, uses the Japanese letter “ん,” which can, particularly in some fonts, look pretty similar to a forward slash if you’re not paying close attention. Strange-looking links and URLs, which differ from the authentic website, are one of the best-known indications of a phishing attack. But using this technique allows scammers to get users to click on a link without noticing it isn’t the real deal.
According to screencaps shared on X by independent security researcher JAMESWT, the fake emails sent to victims contain completely legitimate-looking links.
