Osama Bin Laden Death Video Scam Hits Facebook

Facebook users have been blasted by a viral video scam claiming to be footage of Osama bin Laden’s death. The messages have been posted on walls on thousands of Facebook users, leading to a heavy increase in facebook complaints.

There has been no report of malware, or virus software, received by users after clicking on the link. According to U.K.-based Sophos, the messages don’t play any video of the al-Qaeda leader’s death, but actually trick users into copying and pasting a line of JavaScript into their browser.

“It’s not really surprising,” said Mikko Hypponen, the chief research officer of Helsinki-based F-Secure. “We were expecting to see related malware.”

Upon clicking on the tiny.cc shortened URL — described as Special Forces hit squad put a bullet in the head of Bin Laden! — users are asked to copy and paste a tiny javascript code into their browsers in order to reveal the video. By doing so, they will automatically post a link of the spreading instructions on the walls of their friends.

Earlier today, F-Secure warned users to stay away from spam that included the “Fotos_Osama_Bin_Laden.zip” archive attachment. The messages claim the file contains photos of Bin Laden after he was shot and killed by U.S. special forces.

US Officials have announced that they do have video of both the death and burial of Osama Bin Laden, but it hasn’t been released.

Source: Internet