14 DAY TRIAL // Facebook scammers are using celebrities to attract victims again and this time is Charlie Sheen's turn to serve as bait for vulnerable users.
The American actor's recent behavior has attracted a lot of attention from the public and not necessarily in a good way.
But cyber criminals are well aware that celebrity gossip, good or bad, is among the most sought after type of news on the Internet.
According to security researchers from Sophos, one of the Facebook scams currently making the rounds produces messages that read: "Charlie Sheen is one Sick Puppy, ADULTS ONLY GUYS!! This is his first attempt at Homemade S*x Action! [link]"
With Mr. Sheen engulfed in a scandal involving drugs and prostitutes earlier this year, the spam message has no problem passing as believable.
The scammers further claim the link will take users to a homemade s*x tape intentionally leaked by his ex-wife.
In reality the link leads to a page that displays an image resembling a video player thumbnail, however, when attempting to press play it asks to install a rogue application.
The app is the scam's propagation mechanism and once given access to an account it will proceed to send spam in its owner's name.
Misguided users who end up installing the application don't even get to see the video. Instead, they are asked to complete one of several surveys, allegedly for verification purposes.
These surveys are served through affiliate marketing schemes, sometimes by legit companies whose services are being abused, but their purpose is to earn scammers money from commissions.
People affected by this scam should go to Account > Privacy Settings > Applications and Websites and remove the rogue app. They should also clean the spam messages from their walls.