Beware of 'tabnabbing': what is it and what should we not do?

The National Police force in Spain has issued a warning about another cyber scam in order to help people avoid falling into the traps that the criminals set

Isabel Méndez

Malaga

Tuesday, 1 April 2025, 18:35

People's use of the internet for almost everything nowadays offers cybercriminals a variety of ways to achieve their goals. Many traps rely on users not realising that they are being scammed and one such example, that Spain's National Police have recently warned the public about, is 'tabnabbing'.

The tabnabbing scam mostly happens to those who tend to have many browser tabs open while surfing the internet, meaning a high number of people. Cybercriminals "take advantage of precisely those windows that you have open and inactive," said the National Police campaign video. While the user is active in another tab, the hackers will switch one of the inactive windows for a "malicious copy with a similar appearance". They will place a message that announces an expired session, asking the user to log back in, providing passwords, personal information and/or bank details. This is when data theft occurs.

According to the National Police, a small change of habit can help prevent such scams: closing the windows that are not being used at the moment and checking the URL of websites that ask for personal details. Of course, the primary preventative measure is to not offer any information if one suspects a scam.

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Una publicación compartida por Policía Nacional (@policianacional)

In addition to tabnabbing, there are other variants such as spear phishing (attacks aimed at specific victims) or smishing (deception through SMS text messages). In all cases, the aim is the same: to obtain personal data without the individual realising it.

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