Uh oh! There’s a lot of talk on Twitter and Facebook about that strange Charlie Sheen fellow dying. Could it be true? Or is this yet another hoax designed to spread malware?
I suppose the headline gave away the answer to that mystery.
Charlie Sheen is not dead, but someone’s posting links with captions that suggest that the actor has met his maker:
Clicking on these links takes the user to a fake YouTube-clone page, where any click on any part of the screen will begin spreading the scam on the user’s own Facebook profile. Then, the user is asked to complete a survey before viewing the video, which adds a lead-gen layer to the click-jacking scheme. Finally, some folks are reporting being infected with malware after visiting the site, as well.
Yes, you’d basically suffer in three ways from curiously clicking one link.
Now, I know none of you were silly enough to have fallen for this whole hoax, but if any of your friends have, then you can give them these instructions for securing their Twitter and Facebook accounts:
First, go through your security settings and revoke any access for apps you don’t recall signing up for. Next, go through your profile and delete any spammy posts you may have sent out. Finally, you might want to fire up your antivirus software and make sure your computer isn’t infected.
Once your friends have done that, tell them to download a plugin to block Sheen from the Internet. Actually, download that one yourself, too. Trust me, it’ll make life much more pleasant. [Mashable]