A viral post on Facebook claims to feature a “live video” where one can “Watch the MH 17 Plane Missile Hit Video Tape in Mobile,” but it’s just a scam.
Users are redirected to a page designed like CNN with just an image with a play button over it and bogus comments. After that, users are asked to first “share it below!” The share function is how the scam spreads further through Facebook.
After that, they’re redirected to a website that has nothing but surveys. The surveys are how the scammers make their money.
The actual image of the plane on fire appears to be doctored.
This scam is similar to another one that reads: “Missile Fired From Pro-Russian Militants to Malaysian Airliner MH-17.”
According to security blog Online Threat Alerts, “The scammers or cybercriminals behind this scam will change the website names and images, so watch out for similar scams with different website names and images. Once on the website, the victim will be asked to complete surveys or share the same website before he/she can view the video.”
It’s not recommended to click on the posts or share them. If you have shared the website, it’s probably best to delete it and remove it from your timeline to prevent it spreading even more.
Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 went down over restive eastern Ukraine nearly two weeks ago. All 283 people on board the plane were killed, and it’s believed that pro-Russia separatists shot a surface-to-air missile at the aircraft, causing it to crash.
