Smishing Campaign Impersonating California Franchise Tax Board

    Date: 09/08/2025

    Severity: Critical

    Summary

    We’ve identified an SMS phishing (smishing) campaign posing as the California Franchise Tax Board. The fraudulent websites use domain names that combine terms like “FTB,” “CA,” and “gov” to deceive users. These sites falsely promise tax refunds, but their true purpose is to harvest sensitive personal information, including Social Security numbers, addresses, and payment details.

    Indicators of Compromise (IOC) List

    Domains\URLs : 

    ftb.gov-ca-ly.bar

    ftb.gov-ca-os.bar

    ftb.gov-ca-ul.bar

    ftb.gov-ca-wv.bar

    ftb.cagov-alo.cc

    ftb.ca-ne.cc

    ftb.ca-nu.cc

    ftb.cagov-bd.cfd

    ftb.cagov-lba.cc

    ftb.cagov-ose.cc

    ftb.ca-gov-qn.cfd

    ftb.cagov-tug.cc

    ftb.ca-gov-xq.top

    ftb.ca-lb.cc

    ftb.ca-lf.cc

    ftb.ca-ra.cc

    ftb.cagov-zbv.cc

    ftb.ca-zxc.cc

    Gurucul Threat Detection and Incident Response (TDIR) Queries for Detection

    Domains\URLs : 

    domainname like "ftb.gov-ca-ly.bar" or url like "ftb.gov-ca-ly.bar" or siteurl like "ftb.gov-ca-ly.bar" or domainname like "ftb.cagov-bd.cfd" or url like "ftb.cagov-bd.cfd" or siteurl like "ftb.cagov-bd.cfd" or domainname like "ftb.gov-ca-os.bar" or url like "ftb.gov-ca-os.bar" or siteurl like "ftb.gov-ca-os.bar" or domainname like "ftb.ca-lb.cc" or url like "ftb.ca-lb.cc" or siteurl like "ftb.ca-lb.cc" or domainname like "ftb.ca-ra.cc" or url like "ftb.ca-ra.cc" or siteurl like "ftb.ca-ra.cc" or domainname like "ftb.ca-ne.cc" or url like "ftb.ca-ne.cc" or siteurl like "ftb.ca-ne.cc" or domainname like "ftb.ca-nu.cc" or url like "ftb.ca-nu.cc" or siteurl like "ftb.ca-nu.cc" or domainname like "ftb.ca-gov-xq.top" or url like "ftb.ca-gov-xq.top" or siteurl like "ftb.ca-gov-xq.top" or domainname like "ftb.gov-ca-ul.bar" or url like "ftb.gov-ca-ul.bar" or siteurl like "ftb.gov-ca-ul.bar" or domainname like "ftb.ca-zxc.cc" or url like "ftb.ca-zxc.cc" or siteurl like "ftb.ca-zxc.cc" or domainname like "ftb.cagov-tug.cc" or url like "ftb.cagov-tug.cc" or siteurl like "ftb.cagov-tug.cc" or domainname like "ftb.cagov-alo.cc" or url like "ftb.cagov-alo.cc" or siteurl like "ftb.cagov-alo.cc" or domainname like "ftb.ca-gov-qn.cfd" or url like "ftb.ca-gov-qn.cfd" or siteurl like "ftb.ca-gov-qn.cfd" or domainname like "ftb.cagov-zbv.cc" or url like "ftb.cagov-zbv.cc" or siteurl like "ftb.cagov-zbv.cc" or domainname like "ftb.gov-ca-wv.bar" or url like "ftb.gov-ca-wv.bar" or siteurl like "ftb.gov-ca-wv.bar" or domainname like "ftb.cagov-lba.cc" or url like "ftb.cagov-lba.cc" or siteurl like "ftb.cagov-lba.cc" or domainname like "ftb.cagov-ose.cc" or url like "ftb.cagov-ose.cc" or siteurl like "ftb.cagov-ose.cc" or domainname like "ftb.ca-lf.cc" or url like "ftb.ca-lf.cc" or siteurl like "ftb.ca-lf.cc"

    Reference:    

    https://github.com/PaloAltoNetworks/Unit42-timely-threat-intel/blob/main/2025-09-05-IOCs-for-Smishing-impersonating-CA-francise-tax-board.txt                          


    Tags

    MalwarePhishingSmishingTAXFake softwareCalifornia Franchise

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