A viral scam that has been going around Facebook for months claims there’s a “s xtape [sextape]” of Chris Brown and Rihanna, but it isn’t real.
“[iPhone VIDEO] Rihanna & Chris Brown S xtape Leaked Today,” it reads in full. “Chris brown is very angry on rihanna for not to take care of her iPhone.”
Several variants of the scam--which usually shows a crude image with a play button over it--have been around for the past few months and have been shared widely, despite there being no video for it.
In order to see the content--again, which doesn’t exist--one has to share it and post it on your Facebook wall. That ensures the scam is spread.
However, it takes you to a fake website that can possibly spread malware, promote bogus surveys, or is just trying to generate traffic to a website.
The surveys are designed to get to you give up your personal information, which can be sold to scammers and marketing firms to spam your e-mail account.
“It is this fake Facebook website that the scammers want you to ‘like’ or share, which will make it popular. Once the page is popular, these scammers can sell it to online marketers or other scammers. They will also make money from the surveys that are completed by gullible Facebook users who were tricked into completing them,” reads a post from Online Threat Alerts.
Similar viral scams include one about a polar bear attacking a woman, fake Justin Bieber news, the world’s largest snake in Brazil, and other, sensationalist topics.
There’s likely several different Rihanna-Chris Brown posts going around and some could contain rogue apps or malware.
Here’s how to deal with them, which includes the Rihanna-Chris Brown post:
- If you “liked” or shared the post, please delete it and “unlike” it.
- If you see another person share it on Facebook and it’s a post that goes to a Facebook page, report it.
- If you have inadvertently downloaded an app, you can access your settings by clicking on the Facebook application settings. Once you’re in, you can go down and click the “X” button on the right of the app and turn it off. Note that some of the rogue apps have names like “CNN,” “YouTube,” or “Fox” to trick users.
- If you are being asked to complete a survey, just close the page. These surveys don’t ever promise anything and are merely trying to get your information.
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