To stay in touch with friends and family, people frequently utilize Facebook. They are, therefore, likely to click on the linked message if they receive a Facebook Messenger message that reads, “Look who died in an accident.”
But ‘that’s when the trouble begins,’ hints security experts. The trouble begins because no one actually died in an accident, it’s just a new phishing scam.
Data Prot experts, say victims may think they are clicking on the link to a news story but they instead download malware onto their device and have their login information stolen.
One of the apparent objectives is to get inside the victim’s Facebook account because it may hold valuable information. There are often photos, conversations, and shopping data that can be sold on the dark web.
“This is a large-scale scam that, unlike targeted attacks such as spear phishing, aims to affect as many people as possible,” Data Prot reported on its website. “It works by sending a malicious link to the victim with the message ‘Look who died.’ The message is typically sent from another friend’s profile that was previously infected with this virus.
Because the message appears to come from someone you know, your first instinct might be to believe it. The “accident victim” might be a celebrity or someone you know.
Links in any Facebook message should therefore be treated with caution. Contact the “friend” whose name is on the message directly, not via the Facebook app, if you know their email address or contact number.
Victims that click on the link help the con artists by finding other victims. Their account and password are stolen by the malware they download. Later, it sends the link to the victim’s other Facebook friends through messages.
