14 DAY TRIAL // As December (12), 2012, approaches, the numbers of predictions and people who start to panic increase. Cybercriminals use the topic's growth in popularity to launch their malicious operations, designed to, in one way or the other, earn them a profit.
The latest scam that’s making the rounds on Facebook is entitled “2012 Doomsday Confirmed, NASA Warns Be Prepared,” and it promises a video leaked from the space agency which allegedly proves that the end is near.
GFI experts have analyzed this particular scheme and determined that curious users who click on the link are presented with a webpage which displays a decoy video window.
When the Play button is pressed, another window pops up, urging the internaut to complete a survey that could win him/her a free Starbucks card or an iPad 2.
In the end, the victims don’t win anything and they don’t get to see the much awaited video. On the other hand, the fraudsters that run the campaign gain a certain amount of money for each user that completes the shady survey.
According to the experts, more than 100,000 social media customers have already visited the site since March 28, which means that the crooks have earned themselves a decent amount of money with a minimal effort.
So far, NASA and other experts haven’t confirmed the doomsday predicted by the Mayan calendar. On the contrary!
Users interested in the subject of Doomsday, the Mayan calendar and what NASA has to say about it can check out this interesting piece written by our science department. Other trusted sources are also fine, as long as you refrain from clicking on shady-looking links received via emails or social networking sites.