14 DAY TRIAL // The Facebook feeds of some users are currently polluted by a message from a friend or acquaintance informing of a video with the last words of famous Filipino actor Mark Gil.
By his real name Raphael Joseph De Mesa Eigenmann, Gil passed away on September 1 and cybercriminals have been quick at devising a scam that takes advantage of the unfortunate event in order to help them promote malware.
The message pretends to offer access to the last words spoken by the actor, allegedly recorded in a video. The same sense of urgency for clicking on the link is spread via messages designed to support the scam, also known as click-baiting.
According to Jovi Umawing from Malwarebytes, clicking on the alleged video in order to watch it, leads to potentially unwanted applications (PUA/PUP).
In the example provided by the researcher, potential victims were redirected to a website where a PUP was served. The reason used to justify why the user was kept away from the footage was that the web browser video player needed to be updated; obviously, a file that should fix the issue was readily available from the crook.
Umawing says that the samples analyzed were both detected by their systems as PUP.Optional.InstallBrain.A. Users are recommended to verify the pieces of news, all the more when they involve popular individuals.