Facebook Scam Exploits Robin Williams' Death for Clicks

[JustTooMuchTime]

"the video has already been shared more than 24 million times on Facebook at the time of publishing.

The fake Robin Williams video is just another example of "social engineering," the technical term
for manipulating people into clicking malicious links. Spam like this always accompanies major news
items, playing with peoples' fear, interest and morbid curiosity to generate quick cash.

Full story:
Facebook Scam Exploits Robin Williams' Death for Clicks (http://news.yahoo.com/facebook-scam-exploits-robin-williams-183215646.html?soc_src=mediacontentstory)

[littleroundman]

Facebook Scam Exploits Robin Williams' Death for Clicks

http://l.yimg.com/os/publish-images/news/2013-12-17/005b2aaa-4c76-4cc9-9ec5-3f105f767b6c_tom_guide.png (http://www.techmedianetwork.com/) By Tom's Guide / Jill Scharr August 15, 2014 2:32 PM

Have you seen Facebook posts claiming to link to a video message that actor Robin Williams made before his death earlier this week? Do not click on it — the video does not exist. The post was created by scammers looking to make a quick buck off the tragic death of a beloved entertainer.

And just because your friends have shared the link on Facebook doesn't mean it's legitimate. If you click on it, you'll be brought to a Web page that demands you share the link on your own Facebook and fill out a survey before you can view the alleged video.


Filling out this survey generates revenue for the scammers, and in the end you won't see any kind of video for your trouble. The morbidity of listening to a depressed man's private last words aside, there is no evidence that such a video exists at all.

Nevertheless, it appears the video has already been shared more than 24 million times on Facebook at the time of publishing.

The fake Robin Williams video is just another example of "social engineering," the technical term for manipulating people into clicking malicious links.

Spam like this always accompanies major news items, playing with peoples' fear, interest and morbid curiosity to generate quick cash.

"The scammers have no qualms about exploiting the death of a famous actor and comedian to earn their cash, and give no thought whatsoever to the distressed family he must have left behind," writes security expert and blogger Graham Cluley, who identified the scam on the We Live Security blog by security company ESET.

Always be skeptical of things you see on Facebook, regardless of whether your friends shared them or not. Don't click on an URL with a strange domain name. And don't share a Facebook link without knowing what it is first.

YAHOO.NEWS.com (http://news.yahoo.com/facebook-scam-exploits-robin-williams-183215646.html?soc_src=mediacontentstory)