In early June 2015, a roller coaster accident at UK theme park Alton Towers left four people seriously injured. The incident was widely reported by the mainstream media.
And, typically, criminals viewed the accident as an opportunity to create yet another ‘shocking video’ Facebook scam.
A scam post promising video footage of the accident soon began appearing on Facebook. The post warns that you ‘will never sit on a roller coaster ever after watching this accident video’. It features a teaser image of the roller coaster that includes a video ‘play’ button.
If you click the image in the hope of seeing the footage, you will be taken to a webpage that has been designed to look like a YouTube video page (see screenshot at bottom of this article). The fake page appears to host the promised video and even includes fake comments to make it seem more legitimate.
However, when you attempt to play the video, a popup notice will claim that you must first share the video before you can view it. Via this mechanism, the scammers ensure that their bogus material is widely distributed across the network.
But, alas, even after you share as requested, you will still not get to see the video. Instead, you will be taken to another webpage that claims that you must download and install a video player update before the footage can be viewed.
The supposed update will download various types of malware and adware that may hijack your browser, show malicious advertisements, and collect personal information from your computer.
And, you will still not get to see the promised video.
The teaser image used in the scam post has been stolen from other sources.
Shocking video scams like this one are very common on Facebook. Roller Coaster accidents have been used in previous versions of the scam as well.
Be wary of any post on Facebook that promises shocking, salacious, or breaking news footage. If you click a link in such a post and it claims that you must share a page or download ‘plugins’ or ‘updates’ before you can see a video, exit the page immediately.
Example
Latest Video: Roller Coaster Cars Collide in Alton Towers
You will never sit on a roller coaster ever after watching this accident video.
Original Source : https://www.hoax-slayer.net/facebook-scammers-hijack-news-of-alton-towers-roller-coaster-accident/