14 DAY TRIAL // Scammers have already started exploiting people's interest into yesterday's deadly attacks in Norway's capital, Oslo, and the island of Utøya.
Events that get international coverage, whether natural disasters, tragic accidents, terrorist attacks, etc., are favorite topics for scammers as they provide a large pool of potential victims.
An explosion that killed seven people and injured 15 others in downtown Oslo yesterday, and the subsequent shooting of tens of youths at a Utøya camp, have shocked Norway and the world.
Reports about the changing death toll and the suspect arrested following the attacks are still coming in and are quickly propagated via social media websites like Twitter or Facebook.
Unfortunately, this offers a good opportunity for scammers to take advantage of the tragedy. Security researchers from Sophos warn that at least one viral scam is currently spreading on Facebook by advertising a video of the Oslo blast.
"The message spreading across thousands of people's walls on Facebook reads: [URL] [Video] OSLO Security Camera Captures Blast! [Video] OSLO Security Camera Captures Blast!" warns Sophos Senior Security Advisor Chester Wisniewski.
Opening the link takes users to a page asking them to click on "Jaa" in order to see the video. "Jaa" means "share" in Finnish and people who click on the button will post the same message on their own wall.
The end goal is to trick users to participate in "surveys" in exchange for the promised content. Each victim who agrees to do this earns money for the scammers.
While this particular scam is spreading on Facebook, users should also watch out for other types of attacks, like search engine black hat SEO, particularly on Google images. These schemes usually direct users to scareware websites that push fake antivirus programs.