New Delhi, May 19: On an Interpol input, the CBI has alerted police forces of states and UTs, and central agencies about banking trojan Cerberus that lures smartphone users into downloading malicious links related to COVID-19 and then infects devices to do phishing activities, officials said on Tuesday.

The banking trojan known as Cerberus takes advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic and sends SMS to lure a user into downloading the link containing the malicious software, they said. Safer Internet Day 2019: Cosmos Bank Fraud, UPI And More - Beware Of These New Age Online Frauds.

Once deployed, the trojan application spreads, launching phishing attacks, to steal financial data such as credit card numbers. In addition, it can use overlay attacks to trick victims into providing personal information and can capture two-factor authentication details, the agency has said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)