Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) and Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) users have been once again targeted by the scammers. A video that is being circulated on Facebook and Twitter these days titled ‘[SAD VIDEO] Her head was beat in and she died during this fight.’The video is nothing more than a string of websites that are fake and is designed to help the fraudsters make money out of the unsuspecting and innocent individuals, who fall trap to these as they are unaware of the malicious intent.
Red flags for Facebook, Twitter users
The video has a very catchy title about a woman being beaten up to death that persuades people to give it a try and thereby become a victim of the scammer’s tricks. If anyone clicks to watch the video it will appear on the Timelines of all the people in the friend list of that person.
If clicked the user is redirected to a replica of Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) page that in reality is a website mocked up to look like Facebook. The user gets the impression that he or she is on the page of some news organization as the URL is designed in such a manner.
The scammers have a requirement of sharing the video first before it can be watched so that the window to reaching out the maximum number of users is opened for them, which has a snowball effect in adding the users. The mandatory requirement of ‘sharing before viewing’ do serves as a warning and it is expected of people that they notice such red flags before they fell to such malicious online activities.
How the scammers make money
The website sends the users a notification once the user shares the post on the Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) timeline. Before the user can watch the video he or she has to verify his account and the verification procedure requires the user to share his/her e-mail ID. Once the ID is provided the user is once again redirected to a site that requires the user to complete few online surveys. The online surveys are a way of making money for the scammers. Larger the number of users completing the surveys, larger is the earning.
