We already reported on November 9, 2017 that you should not click on “YouTube” links that are currently making the rounds on Facebook Messenger.
Now the Munich police have also issued a warning on Facebook:
ATTENTION – DO NOT CLICK!
There is currently a message circulating on Facebook Messenger with a link that claims to lead to a YouTube video.
Anyone who clicks on the link will be asked to enter their Facebook password.
The message is then distributed to all friends without being asked.
By loading the post you accept Facebook's privacy policy.
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What is it about in detail?
Once again, Facebook is overwhelmed by a wave of dubious “YouTube references”, which are spread via the Facebook message function.
This is a trap and also a swamp of aggressive spam advertising. But let's start at the beginning in the circular method: It all starts with a private message from a friend's Facebook account. This message comes suddenly and contains a sentence in broken German and a link to a status message that has the YouTube logo as a preview image.
There is no danger to the recipient at this point. The message does not contain a virus, nor would a click trigger any unwanted action. The link in this private message leads to a Facebook group.
There is no danger for the visitor in this area either. Technically, it is still a Facebook page that just uses the YouTube logo in a slightly irritating and abusive manner. What happens here, however, is quite tricky: The status messages refer (graphically supported with finger icons) to a comment in the comment lines.
This comment, which was created by the group operator, contains a shortlink.
By the way, this is very cleverly designed and serves a specific purpose: the status messages, which are just a small cog in the overall process, cannot be deleted by Facebook. They do not contain anything in their text that would in any way affect the reporting function. However, what could be reported at this point or suppressed by Facebook is the comment with the short link.
However, the status message remains unaffected and continues to exist. The site operator would only have to post a new shortlink as a comment and everything would remain as it was. Facebook is being seriously tricked here!
The link!
The link, in turn, irritates just as many users, and all users sitting at their PC or notebook are likely to frown and wonder what the whole thing is about. PC and notebook users simply end up on the YouTube homepage when they click on the short link from the comments.
The emphasis is on the term “at the end”, because initially and almost barely noticeable, the shortlink redirects to a redirect that has a lot to offer: This redirect sorts and differentiates between desktop users (redirection to YouTube) and mobile users.
Anyone who travels with a smartphone (or other mobile device) ends up in a swamp full of traps. First, what appears to be a Facebook login appears.
Be careful, this is not Facebook! This is a phishing trap.
Anyone who thinks they have to enter their own data is giving their access data to the fraudsters who are responsible for this YouTube method.
They then have access to the Facebook account, which they can use within a few minutes! In addition to this phishing page, a bunch of spam advertisements then appear on the display, which are of various types: In addition to classic affiliate competitions, there are also redirects to subscription services. So what we're dealing with here is a well-thought-out tangle of rip-off methods.
It's a very similar story for those people who fell for the phishing trap (yes, we brave heroes at Mimikama sacrificed a test profile for it).
If you enter data into the fake Facebook login (whether real or fictitious data), you end up on a video portal where you have to log in or register. This is also an affiliate because the link there contains an ID.
If someone registers there using this link with the ID, the person who orchestrated this complex fraud process will also receive a commission. Anyone who thinks that this explains the whole spooky thing is seriously mistaken.
Within a short time, our test profile was accessed by third parties. Unfortunately, due to security settings, this access was noticed directly by Facebook and the account was blocked. However, we assume that the circle would have been closed and the fraudsters would have sent private messages from this account to others. In other words: Our test account would probably have sent the dubious YouTube notices itself.
Let's summarize
There's a huge bang in the box here! We are dealing with a deception on multiple levels and with multiple goals. Facebook users are lured with the help of supposed YouTube videos and lured into a trap via a short link with a redirect. Primary target: smartphone users! These find themselves in a phishing trap as well as in a swamp of affiliate advertising. Ultimately, someone makes a lot of money with the massive effort and the combination of several affiliate links.
Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )