14 DAY TRIAL // A message purporting to be an alert from the government about a brand of shampoo causing a skin disease, has been spotted making the rounds on Facebook.
Users receive the message under the form of a post coming from a friend that shows a video thumb with the strange effect of the shampoo and incites to click on the link.
This is no official warning from the Government, but an attempt by scammers to lure victims to complete online surveys.
“GOVERNMENT WARNING: You Will Never Use This Bath Shampoo After Viewing This! You must watch this video to save yourself and your family…” reads the fake message.
According to Hoax Slayer, “fake image uses a manipulated picture of a lotus seedpod and is similar to a long running hoax that supposedly depicts a breast rash that harbored live larvae.”
They also analyzed the scam and determined that once the link is accessed, the potential victim is taken to a fake Facebook page, where the video is allegedly hosted. However, before they are allowed to see the footage, users have to share the “news” first.
The scam is classic, and even after sharing the message, another hurdle needs to be passed, which consists in completing an online survey of the users’ choice.
This is what the scammers are after because the surveys ask for personal information, which includes the mobile phone number.
With this in their hands, cybercriminals can automatically subscribe the victim to premium rate text services and every message sent puts money in their pockets and charges the bill of the victim.
In many cases, victims may not realize for a long time that they have been charged extra on their bill, since most customers rarely check the mobile phone costs, unless the bill is excessively large.
In this particular case, Hoax Slayer says that the premium service charges several US dollars per text message. Moreover, every piece of information can be sold to various Internet marketing organizations, which use them for their purposes: sending notifications, spam and even phone calls for market studies.
If sufficient information is gathered, some cybercriminals may even engage in contacting the victim directly in order to lure them into different scams.
Users are advised not to proceed to click on links promoting sensational news, even if they come recommended from a friend, because they are generally cybercriminal attempts to steal private information and ultimately steal money from the victim.