{"id":15714,"date":"2025-03-24T20:31:14","date_gmt":"2025-03-24T19:31:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/plus.maciejpiasecki.info\/index.php\/2025\/03\/24\/fbi-warns-free-file-converters-are-stealing-info-pushing-malware\/"},"modified":"2025-03-24T21:02:48","modified_gmt":"2025-03-24T20:02:48","slug":"fbi-warns-free-file-converters-are-stealing-info-pushing-malware","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/plus.maciejpiasecki.info\/index.php\/2025\/03\/24\/fbi-warns-free-file-converters-are-stealing-info-pushing-malware\/","title":{"rendered":"FBI warns free file converters are stealing info, pushing malware"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>We often find ourselves needing to convert or merge files. However, not all of us have software installed on our PCs to perform that task. In this case, many of us turn to the internet to search for free online file converter tools. While these file converter tools do the job we need, they could be stealing our info or injecting malware on our devices, warns the FBI.<br \/>\nFile converter tools or similar productivity tools are stealing your info<br \/>\nAccording to the FBI\u2019s warning, many of the free online file converters, file joiners, or similar tools are actually covers for tools that steal users\u2019 private information. Threat actors are also using them for data scraping, injecting malware or ransomware, or similar malicious software on user devices. The warning suggests that its Denver Field Office agents are \u201cincreasingly seeing a scam involving free online document converter tools\u201d.<br \/>\nThe warning has also released some technical details regarding how threat actors are stealing user information. It mentions that scammers are using many popular online tools that convert \u2018.pdf,\u2019 \u2018.doc\u2019 and \u2018.jpg\u2019 files to another format to install malware onto users\u2019 PCs or steal their personal information from the uploaded files. The fake converter tool often advertises its ability to convert or combine files for free. However, the converted files have malware attached to them. These infected files can give criminal access to the victim\u2019s PC, according to the FBI.<br \/>\nThe FBI warning is advising affected users to report. \u201cThe best way to thwart these fraudsters is to educate people so they don\u2019t fall victim to these fraudsters in the first place\u201d, said FBI Denver Special Agent in Charge Mark Michalek.<br \/>\nHow to avoid the threat?<br \/>\nThe FBI emphasized that education is the best defense to detect and avoid such document converter sites. The agency advised the users to study a converter website properly and keep the anti-virus security software on their computer to the latest version by regularly updating it. Users should carefully verify URLs before uploading their files on an online file conversion tool.<br \/>\nAlso, avoid advertisements for free file converter tools at the top of search results in your search engine. Furthermore, users should research and check reviews of any conversion service before using its tools.<br \/>\nThe post FBI warns free file converters are stealing info, pushing malware appeared first on Android Headlines.&#013;<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/plus.maciejpiasecki.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/hack-ah-4-Large-jpeg.jpg\" width=\"1280\" height=\"720\">&#013;<br \/>\nSource: ndroidheadlines.com&#013;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We often find ourselves needing to convert or merge files. However, not all of us have software installed on our [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":70,"featured_media":15715,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15714","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bez-kategorii"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/plus.maciejpiasecki.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15714","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/plus.maciejpiasecki.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/plus.maciejpiasecki.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/plus.maciejpiasecki.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/70"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/plus.maciejpiasecki.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15714"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/plus.maciejpiasecki.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15714\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15716,"href":"https:\/\/plus.maciejpiasecki.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15714\/revisions\/15716"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/plus.maciejpiasecki.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15715"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/plus.maciejpiasecki.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15714"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/plus.maciejpiasecki.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15714"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/plus.maciejpiasecki.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15714"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}