Hackers Exploit MH17 Sorrow; Redirect Online Tributes to Malware
A man holds a sign which reads " MH17 Victims Rest In Peace" during a candlelight vigil for the victims who were on board the Malaysia Airlines jetliner. Vincent Thian/AP
Fake Facebook pages set up for crash victims are driving traffic to pop-up ads on external sites.
Fake Facebook pages set up for victims of the Malaysia Airlines crash are driving traffic to pop-up advertisements and malicious software on external sites, the Daily Mail reports. The passengers named include young Australian siblings who died with their grandfather.
The pages were created the day the plane crashed. They lured people to click on a link claiming to show footage of the disaster.
“Video Camera Caught the moment plane MH17 Crash over Ukraine. Watch here the video of Crash,” the link read.
The fraudulent Facebook pages have since been removed.
Security experts say it seems the external site was compromised to divert to adult hook-up sites and others selling counterfeit drugs. The third-party sites also contained malicious files that infect a user's computer if clicked.
Some users didn’t realize the Facebook pages were bogus and posted heartfelt messages: “Incredible, terrible...To lose your kids in this way...Such beautiful lovely children...no words...” one person wrote.
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