This threat involves a phishing scam campaign leveraging fake Tesla-branded websites advertised via Google paid ads. The attackers create fraudulent websites that closely mimic Tesla's official site design, targeting individuals interested in preordering Tesla's upcoming products, notably the Optimus robot. These fake sites solicit $250 non-refundable deposits for preorders of non-existent products, aiming to defraud victims financially. Additionally, the scam may attempt to steal credit card information by redirecting users to counterfeit authentication pages, although the fraudulent sites reportedly lack genuine login functionality. Multiple malicious domains have been identified, such as corp-tesla.com, exclusive-tesla.com, and offers-tesla.com, among others. Some of these domains have already been taken offline, likely due to Tesla's monitoring and takedown requests. The campaign exploits the high anticipation and excitement around Tesla's future innovations to lure victims, potentially going unnoticed until the expected delivery dates pass. The scam does not involve exploitation of software vulnerabilities but relies on social engineering and brand impersonation to deceive users. There are no known exploits in the wild beyond the phishing campaign itself, and no CVE identifiers are associated with this threat. The campaign is tagged with multiple MITRE ATT&CK techniques related to phishing, domain spoofing, and credential harvesting.

For European organizations, the primary impact is financial and reputational risk to employees and customers who may fall victim to the scam. Individuals may lose money through non-refundable deposits and credit card fraud. If employees are targeted and compromised, this could lead to further social engineering attacks against the organization, such as business email compromise or spear phishing. The scam undermines trust in Tesla's brand and may cause collateral reputational damage to companies associated with Tesla products or services. Additionally, if corporate payment cards or employee personal cards are compromised, organizations may face financial losses and increased fraud investigation costs. The campaign could also increase the volume of phishing-related incidents that European security teams must handle, diverting resources from other priorities. While the direct technical impact on organizational IT infrastructure is minimal, the human factor risk is significant, especially in sectors with Tesla product interest or where employees are Tesla enthusiasts.

1. Educate employees and customers about this specific scam, emphasizing the risks of preordering products from unofficial websites and the importance of verifying URLs carefully. 2. Implement and promote the use of official Tesla channels for product preorders and communications. 3. Use advanced email and web filtering solutions that detect and block access to known fraudulent domains and URLs listed in threat intelligence feeds. 4. Monitor for phishing attempts referencing Tesla or the Optimus robot in corporate email environments and report suspicious messages promptly. 5. Encourage the use of credit cards with fraud protection and monitor card statements regularly for unauthorized transactions. 6. Collaborate with cybersecurity information sharing groups to receive timely updates on new fraudulent domains and campaigns. 7. Employ browser security features and extensions that warn users about suspicious or spoofed websites. 8. Coordinate with legal and compliance teams to report fraudulent domains to relevant authorities and request takedowns. 9. Conduct simulated phishing exercises incorporating this scam theme to raise awareness and test employee vigilance. 10. Ensure incident response plans include procedures for handling phishing scams involving brand impersonation and financial fraud.