Several museumgoers have been scammed via a website that closely resembled the Van Gogh Museum website, Het Parool reports.
They believed they were purchasing entrance tickets but instead had their credit card details stolen. The victims landed on the fake Van Gogh Museum website through Google, with the English page ranking at the top of the search results.
This form of cybercrime, known as malvertising, has become increasingly popular and was recently used for a malicious Facebook advertisement. The criminals had replicated the official ticket sales page of the Van Gogh Museum with precision.
When victims attempted to buy tickets for the museum, they were not required to pay upfront, but they did need to enter their credit card information. The museum received at least fifty reports from victims and other people who suspected the site was untrustworthy. "We have passed on every report to the police," says Frank spokesperson Gideon Querido, "and also to Google." Additionally, the museum's website includes a warning: 'Purchase your tickets only at tickets.vangoghmuseum.nl'.