14 DAY TRIAL // Unscrupulous Facebook spammers have launched a scam that lures users with a video of Ryan Dunn allegedly recorded shortly before his death.
Jackass member and reality TV personality Ryan Dunn died on June 20 after his Porsche 911 GT3 came off road and hit a tree in West Goshen Township, Pennsylvania.
Facecrooks reports that the new scam generates messages that read: "Ryan Dunn Last Words - EXCLUSIVE VIDEO! See the leaked video showing Ryan Dunn's last words."
The link included in the messages takes users to a Facebook-like page hosted on an external domain and displaying a video player.
However, visitors are told that if they want to see the recording they need to share the page with their friends. Doing so will post the aforementioned message on their walls.
But even if they agree to spam everyone they know, users won't get to see any video because they are presented with another pop-up that asks them to fill out a survey in order to continue.
"Tell us what you think of Facebook and get a gift!" a message reads. People who complete the surveys do nothing more than expose their personal information and help scammers earn commission money in the process.
Video lures are one of the most common themes for Facebook scams. The people behind these campaigns don't care if they exploit a tragedy as long as the topic has the public's attention.
People who have fallen victims to this scam or others like it are strongly encouraged to remove the spam messages from their walls in order to protect their friends. They should also unlike any rogue pages by editing their profile settings, going to "Activities and Interests > Show other pages" and removing them from the list.