For subscribers
‘I am not a robot’ tests were irritating. Now they are dangerous
Captchas have outlived their utility and even been used for scams. Unfortunately, it looks as if we are stuck with them for now.
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Cyber security experts have warned about Captcha scam campaigns promoting movies, music or news articles that swept the global Internet in late 2024.
ST ILLUSTRATION: MIEL
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You land on a website that promises movies, music and news articles, or click on a link to join a Telegram channel that promotes cryptocurrency investments. A Captcha prompt pops up, asking you to prove you’re not a robot.
You probably wouldn’t think twice about doing so. But in this case, it is not the usual puzzle asking you to decipher scrambled characters, or select squares with buses, trains or traffic lights.
