Shocking status reports are circulating on Facebook that allegedly report a father who killed his five-year-old son with a machete. However, this claim is misleading. It is a phishing trap.
The fraudsters do this in a sophisticated way: the posts always begin with a varying place name, in the current example “Hamburg”, which is intended to give readers the impression that the cruel events are taking place in their area in order to arouse interest and curiosity. We already know these types of fraud from the child missing reports on Facebook !
The title: “Father calls 911 to admit he killed his son (5) with a machete…”
If the user clicks on the post, they will be redirected to a page that looks very similar to the Facebook page. There you will be asked to re-enter your Facebook login details. This is a classic phishing technique. The fake site is designed to steal users' personal information - in this case, Facebook login details.
If you enter your access data into the fake Facebook log-in input mask, they will end up 1:1 in the hands of the fraudsters!
Using your credentials, fraudsters can gain control of the user's Facebook account, view private information, post on your behalf, send friend requests, and in some cases even access linked email accounts or other services. They can also resell this data, making the user a potential target for further scams and phishing attempts.
Such posts are often posted by users who have themselves fallen victim to this scam and may not even know that they are posting these posts, as this is often automated.
Adding further confusion is the attached image, which is actually from 2021 and shows a tragic incident in Ohio, USA, in which a father killed his son with a baseball bat and not a machete. This true story is manipulated and used in a fictional Machete story to make the phishing trap appear more authentic.
BREAKING: Police just released this booking photo of the Parma father accused in the death of his 5-year-old son. Officers say Matthew Ponomarenko called 911 Thursday about his son Jax. pic.twitter.com/D3KQlnf4pH
— Hannah Catlett (@ReporterHannah) March 26, 2021
This case shows once again how important it is to be vigilant on platforms like Facebook. Be careful when entering your login details, especially when prompted. Always check the URL in your browser's address bar to make sure you are on the real Facebook page. If you come across a suspicious post, please report it to Facebook immediately. The more people are aware of such scams and report them, the safer Facebook will become for all of us.
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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 )