Amatera is a subscription-based information stealer that affiliates distribute through fake AI-tool download pages, compromised websites, paid search ads, phishing, and deceptive ClickFix prompts. The scams convince people to copy and run a command to supposedly fix a CAPTCHA, browser error, or software problem; this can expose work accounts, cloud sessions, developer secrets, and cryptocurrency wallets.
Amatera is a malware-as-a-service infostealer that affiliates distribute through multiple channels rather than a single method. The most notable technique is ClickFix: a fake CAPTCHA check or browser-error message tells the victim that a technical problem can be fixed by copying a short command and running it themselves through the Run dialog, PowerShell, or Terminal. Because the victim performs the action, the page itself never needs to deliver a file directly, it only needs to convince someone to paste and execute text.
Other affiliates built fake pages impersonating well-known AI services such as Anthropic's Artifacts, OpenAI's Canvas, and Microsoft Copilot Pages, offering fake troubleshooting steps that lead into the same command-execution chain. A third approach used paid Google ads and SEO poisoning to promote cloned installation pages for popular developer and AI tools, including Claude Code, NotebookLM, JetBrains, Comet, and Snowflake, specifically targeting developers.
The scheme works because each pretext borrows credibility from something the target already trusts: a routine CAPTCHA, a familiar AI brand, or a search ad that looks like a legitimate top result. None of these are inherently suspicious on their own, which is what makes the instruction to copy and run a command stand out as the one consistent red flag across all three variants. Once executed, Amatera can harvest browser credentials, cookies, session tokens, documents, cloud-synced files, cryptocurrency wallet data, and development secrets.
Organizations and individuals can reduce exposure by treating any copy-and-run instruction from a web page as a stop-and-verify moment rather than a routine fix. Employees should be reminded that legitimate CAPTCHAs, error messages, and installers never require typing commands into the Run dialog, PowerShell, or Terminal. Developers and AI-tool users should navigate to official download pages directly rather than trusting paid ads, and should keep personal and work browser profiles separate so that a personal-device compromise cannot expose corporate email, cloud consoles, or code repositories. Techniques referenced in this activity map to T1204.004 and T1566.002.
Mirage safely runs attacks like this one against your own team, so you find out what happens before a real adversary does.
Amatera is a subscription-based Windows information stealer sold as malware-as-a-service, letting paying affiliates run their own distribution campaigns to steal browser credentials, cookies, session tokens, and more.
A major method is ClickFix: a fake CAPTCHA or browser-error page tells victims to copy and run a command on their own computer, which triggers the compromise.
Affiliates impersonated AI and developer tools like Claude Code, NotebookLM, JetBrains, Comet, and Snowflake through Google ads and SEO poisoning to lure developers into installing malware.
Yes, if a victim mixes personal and work browser profiles, Amatera can expose corporate email sessions, cloud consoles, code repositories, or HR systems accessed from that browser.
Searching for Claude Code? A Google ad can lead to a fake install page. Then comes ClickFix: ‘Verify you are human to continue.’ The page says to copy a ‘fix’ into Windows Run or PowerShell. Your own keystrokes can launch Amatera. That’s the tell: a CAPTCHA checks a webpage; it doesn’t need your computer’s command line. Amatera can steal browser sessions, work logins, cloud files, and developer secrets. If a webpage asks you to run a command, stop. Check the issue with IT through your usual support channel.
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