Wallingford, CT - October 25, 2012 - Twitter users, don't fall for this! A new scam uses direct messages to tease potential victims with a link to an embarrassing Facebook video. If you try to view the clip, you'll get a virus instead.
How the Scam Works:
You receive a Twitter direct message that seems to be alerting you to a video of yourself posted on Facebook. Senders try to grab your attention by implying that the video is embarrassing. Variations of the message include:
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rofl they was taping you
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how did you not see them taping u
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whatt are you doing in this fb vid ?
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what on earth you're doing on this movie
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O M G your in this
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what on earth could you be doing in our vid
The message contains a link that appears to go to a Facebook.com address. However, users who click on it are greeted with what appears to be a video player and a warning message that "An update to Youtube player is needed." The message says it will install an update to Flash Player 10.1, but the file that downloads isn't a new version of Flash. It's a virus.
I Think I've Found a Scam. What Should I Do?
For tips on how you can avoid phishing scams and prevent your account from being hacked, see Twitter's "Safe Tweeting" help page.
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