Be on the lookout for this Facebook Messenger scam. Fall for it and your PC, Mac or phone could end up loaded with malware. This scam was first reported on by David Jacoby over at Securelist.
Here’s how it works: you’ll get a message that appears to be from one of your friends. The message will have your name, the word “Video” and a shocked emoji along with a link.
Users will think a friend sent them a video. Click on the link and you’ll end up on a page infected with malware. Depending on your browser you could end up on a page offering a fake Flash Player installer, a phony YouTube channel, or Google Doc that mimics the Facebook page of your Facebook friend. All of these sites are loaded with malware when will immediately begin to steal off of your information including phone numbers and email addresses. It will then infect your phone and send out the same message via Messenger to your Facebook contacts. Of course, if they fall for it, the malware just keeps on spreading.
As always, be very careful about clicking on links. If you aren’t sure if something is actually from a friend, ask them if they’ve sent you something. Don’t just reply to the message, open up a separate one.
If you’ve clicked on a message like this, you should consider resetting your phone and changing the passwords on all of your accounts.
Thank you so much for that tip because my grandson’s name is David and I sent videos that way.