Carolyn Moritz wrote an article on VPN Creative about impersonators using Bitcoin domains that are similar to existing websites for phishing attempts. It seems some of these websites were actually trying to generate advertising revenue and using the strong newsletter numbers of the real Bitcoin websites.

From the article:

Bitcoin news website CryptoCoinNews (CCN) was impersonated in a phishing attack on Thursday, August 14, marking the latest in a recent string of attacks impersonating bitcoin-related domain names.

The attacker registered a similar domain name (cryptocoinznews.com) and proceeded to send emails to potential advertisers while offering special discounted rates. The offer promised to share the target’s website link with CCN’s 56,400 subscribers for the price of one bitcoin (BTC). Upon reporting this attack, CCN compared it to a similar phishing attack imitating CoinDesk, another bitcoin news website.

Ofir Beigel of informative website 99Bitcoins described his encounter with CoinDesk impersonators on his own website. In this case, a fraudulent email offered two advertising options at what Beigel at the time considered to be a reasonably low price. The email provided legitimate CoinDesk information including advertisement timeframes that coincided with the information posted on their website.

Read the full article here