A viral post that’s been going around for the past four years says that “this girl killed herself, after her dad posted this to her wall,” but it’s not real and could be used to spread malware or scam users. Another one is titled, “Girl Killed Herself live On Cam Just after Dad Seen Her While Doing This,” which also is fake.
According to security firm Sophos, the post was first posted in 2010, but it has continously been re-uploaded with different headlines and accompanying images. The posts also promise a video, but there isn’t one.
“Girl Killed herself live On Cam Just After Dad Seen Her While Doing This on cam!” one of the scams reads, which includes a scantily-clad woman. “She was Feeling so much Shame and Could Not see in her dad eyes”
“The scams use a variety of techniques and variations of the disguises to maximize their chances of tricking people into taking surveys or handing over personal information,” reads a post from Sophos.
Some of the hoax postings claim the girl killed herself on Christmas Eve or other holidays.
The posts usually ask Facebook users to share a bogus website that looks like Facebook after they click on it. After the post is shared, they will be directed to a survey that is designed only to collect personal information.
It is not recommended to click on the post, download anything from it, share it, or fill out the surveys.
Regarding rogue Facebook apps, you can delete them in your Facebook account settings, which will list all the applications that you have given access to your account.
Go down and click the “X” on the right of the rogue app in question. Malicious apps can have popular names like “YouTube,” “CNN,” and “Fox News.”
There’s been a number of viral Facebook scams in recent months, including one that claimed singer Rihanna was killed, one about a shark eating a man in the ocean, and one claiming to have a video of the world’s largest snake in Brazil.
