Look who just died scam: Facebook users beware!
There have been countless scam attempts before, and the scammers are bringing a new measure to it every day. Recently, a popular scam tactic has seen a rise, especially among Facebook users. It goes by the name of the "look who just died scam," and if you fall for it, you might want to bid farewell to your account.
While social media platforms are great for keeping in touch with friends and family, scammers looking to steal your money or personal information may find them to be a gold mine. People from all around the world lose millions of dollars every year to these frauds, and scammers always come up with something new. Nowadays, the "look who just died scam" is widely used by bad actors.
What is look who just died scam?
Just like any other attempt, scammers send an unknown link and type "look who just died" to get the interest of the victim. Once the victim clicks the link, the hacker will lock them out of their accounts and steal their information. It is currently popular among Facebook users.
The message contains the words "look who just died," along with a link that appears to take the user to a news report about the decedent's passing. The recipient may be led to believe that the deceased was a well-known figure or someone they knew personally by the use of phrases like "So sad" or "I know you know him/her" in the message.
What are the risks?
The risks are pretty much the same in every scamming attempt. Once you fall for the "look who just died scam," the hacker will log you out of your computer and have full control of your account. This way, they will probably send the same message to your friends from your account, and the web will grow.
You will lose not only your Facebook account but also all the private information you have in there. Most people fill out all of the "about me" sections and give every detail about themselves. Once the hacker gets control of your account, they will also have your information.
How to stay safe against the look who just died scam
If you want to stay safe against the "look who just died scam," simply don't click the link once someone else sends you the message. Links to fake news sites may download malware, giving hackers access to user data. This is not special for this scam, but you should never click any links that look suspicious and don't know the source.
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It’s been 30 years since the internet went public and we’re still seeing the ‘click on this link’ kind of scams that date to the end of the previous century – because they still work. Morons still breed.
“then it’s very bad writing like from someone who doesn’t understand computers and internet.”
This according to Anonymous.
You’ve been called out ONUR DEMIRKOL.
If you are not a bot, show thyself and explain!
Most of the new authors don’t have bios & never post on comments.
What happened to Shaun?
it’s impossible to get your account and your computer stolen by clicking a link.
Malicious JavaScript can be used as a vector for unauthorized drive-by download attacks without the website visitor being aware.
“like, bruh” is probably trolling, but I just wanted to say that if the hacker gets your Microsoft account credentials that you signed into your computer, then they could use any number of browser exploits to get into your computer and control it. Technically they don’t even need your account credentials, but that is one avenue I can think of.
If the click leads to an attack site that exploits an unknowned browser security bug, but it’s an unlikely situation, theoretically everything is possible, thus much worse than just an attacker getting a Facebook password, he could take control of the whole device, and without the user even downloading and running a malware file. Which is not what the author seems to be talking about with “logging you out of your computer” considering the rest of what he wrote, he probably only means Facebook account ; then it’s very bad writing like from someone who doesn’t understand computers and internet.
Assuming it’s not such a bug exploitation, it shouldn’t even be possible to crash the browser (because a browser crash could lead to further exploitation, they are taken seriously, or should be).
Of course if the user is deceived into downloading and running a malware file, then everything can easily happen too.
But after a quick search it seems to be a mere phishing attack: the user is simply deceived into entering his Facebook password, thinking it’s to log in, but in fact it’s on a site that is not Facebook. One thing that I’m not sure about after that quick search is how clicking the link logs the user out of Facebook first, but it’s not a very important part, in fact it may not even be actually happening…
I think the same. Who says no, please explain why should it be possible.
@ like, bruh,
Please elaborate. I’m genuinely interested in what you have to say on the subject.
In order to do anything on your computer, someone needs to get you to download a file and run it. The worst a web page can do is crash your browser.
Download & run a file – or fool you into typing some sort of credentials – you’re right, the simple act of clicking a link can’t get you – unless there is a browser exploit, with auto-file download, and then maybe somehow that is executed.
Yes, but if that somebody already has access to your account, they can do that themselves.