One of the oldest tricks in the book is a fake news site; throw up some familiar banners, a splash of well-worn logos and half a dozen fake links to nowhere and you have a perfect storm of believability and dubious antics.
The BBC are popular targets, as we can see from the below fake website / Adobe Flash download combo:
On the same lines, fake CNN sites are also a popular choice for scammers:
Not all fake sites are based on Western news organisations, either – here’s a dubious “scandal tape” effort claiming to be a page from the GMA Network:
It’s the usual “Share on Facebook to view” nonsense so beloved of fakers everywhere.
However, it isn’t just news orgs associated with TV and additional media who fall under the gaze of the scammers – newspapers get it in the neck, too.
Here’s an imitation Daily Mirror website:
The site, located at
mirror(dot)com-1(dot)eu/article
claims Facebook has introduced a “Social Media Profits Program” to the public. The get rich plan involves “working” with companies like Facebook and others to post links and articles across social media. Apart from the article reading exactly like an advert, there’s also a bit of a typo howler in one of the headers:
Sneak peak from the member's area!
…eyes, goggles, nothing.
Clicking through on any of the links to this new system (or indeed clicking any of the supposed news articles elsewhere on the page) will lead you to site claiming you can “Make money and change your life NOW!”
The site asks for name, phone and email address and claims there are “only 47 job openings worldwide”. If you leave the page sitting open for long enough, this happens:
ALERT! YOUR RESERVED JOB IS ABOUT TO EXPIRE AND WILL BE GIVEN TO SOMEONE ELSE! IMMEDIATE ACTION IS REQUIRED TO PREVENT THIS!
Curiously, I revisited the page today after taking the above screenshots last night and they’re still offering up 47 spots. I guess this is one job market that isn’t really going places…
Christopher Boyd
