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Fake Messages Rigged With Malware Are Spreading Via Facebook Messenger (bleepingcomputer.com)
According to recent warnings issued by Avira, CSIS Security Group, and Kaspersky Lab, a virulent spam campaign has hit Facebook Messenger during the past few days. "The Facebook spam messages contain a link to what appears to be a video," reports Bleeping Computer. "The messages arrive from one of the user's friends, suggesting that person's account was also compromised." From the report: The format of the spam message is the user's first name, the word video, and a bit.ly or t.cn short-link. Users that click on the links are redirected to different pages based on their geographical location and the type of browser and operating system they use. It's been reported that Firefox users on Windows and Mac are being redirected to a page offering a fake Flash Player installer. Kaspersky says this file installs adware on users' PCs. On Chrome, the spam campaign redirects users to a fake YouTube page pushing a malicious extension. It is believed that crooks use this Chrome extension to push adware and collect credentials for new Facebook accounts, which they later use to push the spam messages to new users.
Well I don't have a FB account, so it doesn't matter to me.
Fake messages from bad hombres discovered by Russians? Where have I heard that before?
Table-ized A.I.
So Firefox users on Windows and Mac get something, so do those on Chrome... but, what can I get on eLinks on arm64 Linux?
The creatures outside looked from Alt-Right to Antifa; but already it was impossible to say which was which.
Users that click on the links being the key phrase here.
Guns are always loaded, shortened URLS always lead to malware. Especially when they don't. If you post a shortened URL, you should be permanently banned and flagged as a spammer. If you click on a shortened URL, you are a fucking idiot. There is no legitimate reason to use shortened URL services. No exceptions. Your one edge case is objectively wrong and it makes you a shill for malware venders.
People being idiots is not news. Death to bit.ly and all URL shorteners.
a bit.ly or t.cn short-link
is the starting sign to be cautious. Without know the actual web link, it is very likely for it to redirect right into a virus / zero-day exploit. All it takes is a single click.
If the user really needed the content from the link, they should use a VM or something. Otherwise, they should expect their pc to be trashed with malware upon clicking.
Seriously... the internet has pretty much existed in the general public for a good 21+ years now. These shitty tricks haven't changed since they started, and yet, morons still fall for them. I'm at the point now where if an adult falls for this shit, they deserve to be compromised. And if a kid downloads it, I'd certainly hope their parents are smart enough to teach them not to fall for that shit ever again. I'm not even going to let my kids touch social networking and IM until they're old enough to understand some basics of the internet and computing.
Wait, so if they are fake messages then they aren't actually messages so this is a purely theoretical issue, right? I know that "Fake" is the latest buzzword for anything that you think is a bad thing, but these are real messages. They are just spam, and we've had those for decades. Likewise they aren't "Rigged with Malware", they link to a page that contains malware for people to download.
The clickbait-style titles manufactured by editors aren't doing the site any favours as they are just lowering the (already pretty low) quality of posts even further.
... fake news articles rigged with believable but totally wrong information are spreading via justabouteverythingontheinternet.
Keep using Facebook you dopes!
For those people who need to click on the link, for whatever reason (e.g. it's on an email from a potential employer), there's still a way to know where it leads, right? You can tell Firefox (or whatever browsers) not to follow "redirect" instructions until it asks you. Or am I missing something here?
404555974007725459910684486621289147856453481154 in hex is "You sank my Battleship?"
[GPG key in journal]