Operation Fake KickOff: Attackers Abuse Recruiters and SaaS to Harvest Work Credentials

A sophisticated multi-stage phishing operation has been active since April 2025, systematically exploiting legitimate SaaS platforms and cloud services to steal corporate credentials. The campaign utilizes 232 phishing domains and 80 command-and-control servers, primarily impersonating human resources consulting firms, with Robert Half Inc. and Aquent LLC representing 50% of targeted brands. Attackers leverage legitimate platforms like Salesforce, SendGrid, and Zoho for email delivery, directing victims to fake Calendly interview pages that mimic real recruiter identities. The operation deploys an adversary-in-the-middle toolkit using browser-in-the-box techniques to create replica Google sign-in pages, capable of harvesting credentials and bypassing MFA through email, SMS, Google Authenticator, and prompt notifications. The campaign specifically targets corporate email accounts, filtering out personal providers, with stolen data exfiltrated to Render-hosted servers and Telegram bots.

Jul 15, 2026 · unknown severity · unattributed attribution