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California Tax Refund Mobile Phish
A new mobile phishing scam is impersonating California's Franchise Tax Board, gaining significant traction recently. These phishing sites, which do not load on Windows browsers, are designed to steal personal information. After collecting user data, the scam claims a $1050 refund is available and offers to send it via credit card due to system maintenance. Victims are asked for their card number, expiration date, and CVV. Analysis reveals over 300 domains exhibiting a pattern starting with "ftb.cagov" or "ftb.ca-gov," using .cfd or .cc top-level domains. Many of these domains were registered with Dominet (HK) Limited and are hosted by TENCENT, with some traffic routed through CloudFlare for privacy. Earlier phishing campaigns mimicked the California DMV in June, followed by the FTB scam beginning in August. A related "cagov-XX.cfd" and "ca-gov-XX.cfd" pattern also emerged in late August, with domains hosted on TENCENT. Investigations show at least 105 domains are hosted across four specific TENCENT IP addresses.