Picture illustration. (REUTERS/Pawel Kopczynski)
Porn is being used as bait for scams designed to steal money and private info from internet users.
Cybersecurity experts say that criminals are "using porn as a lure" to get viruses onto people's computers, or to trick them into handing over cash.
Internet security giant Kaspersky has published a detailed report that found more than 300,000 instances of porn-themed attacks in 2017.
These scams tried to attack more than 50,000 computers around the world, often in an attempt to hack premium accounts for porn websites to sell on the dark web.
According to Kaspersky, the fact that porn is "turning into mainstream entertainment" is fuelling a sharp rise in the number of saucy scams online.
One scam involved getting users who are "searching for porn" to click on a phishing link that offers a phoney warning about how their device is infected.
The message invites the user to call what appears to be Microsoft's technical support service to disinfect the device, claiming that the phone-line is toll free "but that is not always the case".
This phone number usually connects the victim to a scammer, who then "uses social engineering to get their personal or banking data".
Another scam mimics sex dating services, asking randy internet users to enter their credit card details – which are then nabbed by hackers.
Some scams involve "scareware", where a device's screen is locked with a message stating that "illegal content (usually child porn) has been detected". Users are then prompted to pay up for a ransom.
The cybersecurity experts also uncovered six trojans that "have been hiding within porn apps and video players, stealing users' data and money by the second".
Kaspersky says porn users are particularly at risk because they're unlikely to report the crime: "They would have to admit they were looking for or watching porn."
This story first appeared on The Sun.
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