The Federal Bureau of Investigation has sent out a new warning about how more and more fraudulent online sites for sharing and converting documents are being used for cybercrime. These schemes take advantage of people who are looking for free tools without knowing it. They are causing a wave of malware infections, ransomware attacks, and identity theft across the United States.
Fake Document Converters are the New Way that Malware Gets In
The FBI has proven that bad people are hiding malware in free document converter websites more and more. These platforms say they can quickly change files from JPEG to PDF or Word to Excel, but what they really do is give you viruses that damage both personal and business computers.
Police say that thieves are using small changes, like switching out a single character or using “INC” instead of “CO,” to make fake domains that look like real ones. Because they often put harmful sites at the top of search results, paid search ads are making the problem worse.
Cybersecurity company Malwarebytes has found a number of fake websites that are being used in these attacks, such as
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Imageconvertors[.]com – phishing activity
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Convertix-api[.]xyz – Trojan deployment
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Convertallfiles[.]com – adware
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Freejpgtopdfconverter[.]com – riskware
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Primeconvertapp[.]com – riskware
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9convert[.]com – riskware
These cases show how widespread lies are, since attackers are always making new websites to replace ones that have been flagged or taken down.
Getting Bigger with Ransomware Campaigns
These fake converters pose a lot of risks, not just the risk of getting an infection. New research suggests that the same vector may have been used in the ransomware attack in February on Lee Enterprises, a U.S. media company with outlets in more than 70 local markets.
Once harmful code gets into a system through a conversion file that looks like it’s not harmful, it can send ransomware payloads that encrypt data and cause problems for whole businesses. Analysts say that the fact that consumer scams and ransomware aimed at businesses both use the same methods shows how cybercriminals take advantage of the weakest link in the digital environment.
Risks That Are Hidden in Converted Files
Security experts warn that the threat isn’t just getting executables that are bad. Even changed files that look like they are safe could be hacked. As an example:
PDF files can contain JavaScript that runs when the file is opened.
There are times when harmful macros in Microsoft Word or Excel files can lead to deeper intrusions.
Info-Tech Research Group’s Fred Chagnon says that attackers take advantage of users’ trust in the returned file by hiding payloads that are hard to find even with the most advanced desktop defense tools.
Fake Collaboration Platforms are Becoming a Bigger Problem for Businesses
Attackers are now taking advantage of the trust that comes with well-known tools for working together on documents. A new study from Cofense shows that in 2024, 8.8% of credential phishing campaigns used fake or hacked websites for document sharing.
People who are a threat are pretending to be services like
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DocuSign
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Google Docs and Google Drive
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Adobe
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Dropbox
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Canva
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Zoho
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SharePoint
Many people believe these domains and use them for both internal and external contact, so email security gateways don’t always block malicious links. Some services even send emails to people automatically, which gives attackers an extra level of trustworthiness.
What the FBI Says to Keep You Safe
People and businesses are both asked by the FBI to be extra careful. Important defensive steps are:
Stay away from free online file exporters and only use well-known apps or official platforms.
Carefully check URLs for small spelling mistakes or strange domain endings.
When you see paid search results, be careful because they could lead you to fake sites.
Use endpoint monitoring tools, but be aware of what they can’t do.
Teach your workers and customers how to spot strange requests to share or convert files.
Experts say that user knowledge is still the best way to protect against these more complex campaigns, even though technological defenses are still important.
How AI is Becoming More Important in Cyber Defense
As attackers use AI-powered tools to make their campaigns bigger, cybersecurity experts say that on-device AI tracking will become necessary to find threats that get past cloud or server-based filters. Real-time behavior research at the user level could be the next big thing in stopping these attacks as they change.
The FBI’s increasing warnings make it clear that fake document converters and fake cooperation platforms are not just annoying, they are major sources of cybercrime. These attacks are a link between consumer scams and large-scale ransomware, and they pose a danger to both individuals and businesses.