'Husband Kills Girl' video scam goes viral on Facebook

Facebook users were warned this week against a new viral scam on the social network involving a supposed video of a girl being killed by her husband for kissing another man.

 

Security vendor Bitdefender said the new scam suggests footage of an Asian woman about to get her head chopped off with a sword.

 

"More than 4,000 people apparently liked and shared the video, but the numbers may be faked by scammers seeking to add credibility to the bait," Bitdefender's Bianca Stanescu said in a blog post.

 

The scam threatens to drop adware or malicious code on targeted computers, she said.

 

But she also said the subject should already be a giveaway since it claims the girl was killed "because she kissed another men.”

 

Stanescu said the scammy video is spreading on Facebook timelines and groups, as well as on fraudulent blogs and other web sites.

 

As with past scams, she said users will be asked to install a plugin. Clicking on the install button will download an executable file that drops malware or adware.

 

“The delivered adware has access to Non-Personally Identifiable Information (NPII) such as the type of the browser, the country and the Operating System,” Bitdefender Virus Researcher Stefan Hanu said.

 

Hanu added tt can "also communicate with a server and receive dynamic rules that can check, for example, if a certain application or antivirus is installed."

 

With this information, scammers may serve other links and payloads, targeting users with more efficient baits, in their own language.

 

Bitdefender recently released its annual list of the top 10 scams making rounds on the social network. — Joel Locsin/TJD, GMA News