Be careful on Facebook! Hackers are having fun making you believe that one of your loved ones has died in a serious car accident. This is a sleazy way to install malware on your device to steal your personal data.
There is no shortage of scams on Facebook: fake groups, corrupted advertisements, fake login pages or fake buyers… One moment of inattention and you can fall into the clutches of scammers and see your personal data stolen. But this time, it’s a very sordid scam that is rampant on the social network. Hackers trick you into believing that someone close to you was in a serious car accident and unfortunately died – of course, they don’t reveal their name so you assume the worst. Also, if you read a message on your wall like “Unfortunately, an accident just happened. I think you know him. I’m sorry…” Or “Look who died in an accident, I think you know her, I’m sorry,” accompanied by a link, the thumbnail of which is sometimes blurred, but which allows you to distinguish an damaged car, do not click, even if it comes from one of your friends. This is a scam as old as time but which is making a comeback on Facebook, after having been observed many times in recent years. A variation consists of pretending that there is a video of the accident, arousing the morbid curiosity of users who come across the publication. But by clicking on the link, you will have your login credentials stolen and risk ending up with malware.
Accident on Facebook: a sordid scam that plays on your fear
The principle of this scam is extremely deceitful. Hackers play on urgency because, by encouraging you to react quickly, hackers prevent you from thinking about what you are doing. Furthermore, by hiding the name of the “dead” and not giving details, they arouse your curiosity so that you want to click on the link to find out more. Especially since, to gain credibility, cybercriminals use an account of one of your relatives, to which they have stolen access. Don’t be fooled as you will land on a fake Facebook login page. Hackers will be able to collect your personal information if you enter it to log in. Worse: they will take the opportunity to inject you with malware, which will spy on you.
You will note the paradox of having to identify yourself on Facebook while already connected… Obviously, this is a page which has nothing to do with the social network, which is intended to recover your identifiers. If you validate the connection, you give hackers direct access to your account. He will then have plenty of time to go through your personal information and messages looking for bank details and other data to use. This then opens the door to more elaborate phishing attempts and identity theft. You also risk catching malware on your device, which will also suck up all your personal data, which will then be resold on the Dark Web to the highest bidders.
This scam has been used for several years on Facebook, but it has been on the rise since last May, as we can see on Signal-scams. Be careful, do not click on this type of message. Check the URL of the page under the image: you will see that it has nothing to do with Facebook. Besides, in general, don’t click on links that look suspicious. It is very unlikely that someone would announce such bad news publicly on the social network. If in doubt, contact the person directly. In case of attempted fraud, report it to the platform Signal Spam – just register for free – or that of the government Pharos. If you have already fallen into the trap: change your password immediately, activate double authentication and remain particularly vigilant in the following weeks.