Details emerge of ‘sophisticated’ new Grindr scam called “DiCaprio”

A new scam utilizing Grindr has managed to trick major media outlets including PBS, Fox and CBS into buying fake ads.

Dubbed the “DiCaprio” scam–no relation to Leo–the fraud works like this: Hucksters bought a regular ad on Grindr, then modified the code to look like an empty channel slot on a Roku device. They then sold the fake slot to potential advertisers, who thought they were bidding on Roku ad space. Instead, the con artists just pocketed the funds.

It’s been called “DiCaprio” because the name appears in the HTML code inserted by the fraudsters.

Palo Alto-based ad fraud detection company called Pixelate first detected the scam. CEO Jalal Nasir called the scam “one of the most sophisticated OTT [over-the-top] ad fraud schemes we have seen to date,” in a statement to BuzzFeed News. OTT fraud involves selling fake ad space.

Related: New report uncovers more bad news for Grindr… and its users

In addition to cheating buyers out of money, investigators also believe that the fake ads consumed massive amounts of Grindr user data as well as….

Read full story, and more, from Source: Details emerge of ‘sophisticated’ new Grindr scam called “DiCaprio”

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