Scammers Abuse Google Looker Studio to Send Fraudulent Compensation Emails
Kaspersky has detected a new campaign in which threat actors are abusing the legitimate Google Looker Studio (previously Google Data Studio) service to distribute fraudulent emails in Russian.
The messages claim that recipients are eligible for compensation payments or that a financial transfer has already been approved by a bank. Attackers exploit the platform’s built-in function that sends reports by email on a schedule, creating a document containing phishing text and links, then specifying victim addresses as recipients.
Because the emails originate from Google infrastructure and include the official Data Studio name, logo and signature, they appear highly credible. Delivery is restricted to the beginning or middle of each hour, resulting in messages that arrive at predictable times with only minor deviations.
Links inside the documents lead victims to Google Presentations or Google Forms pages that reference supposed changes in legislation, extended payment periods and include images of state symbols along with lists of supposed beneficiaries. These pages ultimately redirect users to malicious sites designed to steal funds or credentials.
Senior spam analyst Anna Osipova warned that use of a legitimate platform does not guarantee the trustworthiness of the content. Konstantin Isakov of Kaspersky GReAT added that abuse of trusted services makes it significantly harder for protective solutions to block the messages.
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