News about a celebrity goes viral, and the scammers go to work. Earlier this week scammers capitalised on reports that US social media star Kim Kardashian West was robbed at gunpoint in her private Paris residence.
Norton reported that within 24 hours after the incident was made public, there was a 2,400% increase in Kim Kardashian-related spam and scams. In order to make money, steal personal information or do damage, Norton notes that attackers use current events as a hook to play on people’s emotions and attract attention. As a result, nearly 100 different subject-line variations were seen in spam messages alone associated with Kardashian’s name, including “Breaking News” and “Photos of” in the subject line. The majority of messages Norton has tracked so far are in English, French and German.
Media reports commenting on the rubbery point to social media as a way for intruders to enter personal lives. Norton's tips for Snapchat and Instagram users include:
Geotagging
o By default, Snapchat provides no information about someone’s location. However, users can use geofilters which apply a special overlay to their snaps. This information is usually the name of the city, state or associated with a landmark or business, but it does not pinpoint the users’ approximate location.
o Instagram on the other hand allows users to geotag their photos or videos with a specific landmark/location. The only other way to identify someone’s location would be by identifying any landmarks in the images themselves. So remember, don’t geotag photos from personal locations (like your home, office, a friend or family members’ home)!
Privacy settings
o Ensure that you regularly review your privacy settings
o Remove geotags on previously posted photos from these personal locations by viewing your photomap (Instagram)
o If you’re a Snapchat user, be sure you know who can view your Snapchat stories and who can contact you
Social engineering scams come in many forms, Norton adds. Some files of thumb include:
- Don’t open e-mails or click on attachments from those you don’t know
- Be sceptical: just because you’ve seen it on your newsfeed doesn’t mean it’s not a scam. Your friends may have fallen victim to a click-jacking scam and may not not even be aware of it. They may have clicked on a link which then hijacks their address book and sends phishing requests to their friends without their knowledge.
- Hover over the URL before clicking to see what kind of site you’ll be redirected to – it is best to visit only websites you know and trust. Tools like Norton Safe Search can verify a website’s legitimacy
- Be suspicious of any calls to action such as filling a form (phishes personal details), downloading a plug-in (could be malware) or the need to share with friends before actually watching or reading the promised content
- Report suspicious activities or content to the social media platform or your e-mail service provider
Norton reported that within 24 hours after the incident was made public, there was a 2,400% increase in Kim Kardashian-related spam and scams. In order to make money, steal personal information or do damage, Norton notes that attackers use current events as a hook to play on people’s emotions and attract attention. As a result, nearly 100 different subject-line variations were seen in spam messages alone associated with Kardashian’s name, including “Breaking News” and “Photos of” in the subject line. The majority of messages Norton has tracked so far are in English, French and German.
Media reports commenting on the rubbery point to social media as a way for intruders to enter personal lives. Norton's tips for Snapchat and Instagram users include:
Geotagging
o By default, Snapchat provides no information about someone’s location. However, users can use geofilters which apply a special overlay to their snaps. This information is usually the name of the city, state or associated with a landmark or business, but it does not pinpoint the users’ approximate location.
o Instagram on the other hand allows users to geotag their photos or videos with a specific landmark/location. The only other way to identify someone’s location would be by identifying any landmarks in the images themselves. So remember, don’t geotag photos from personal locations (like your home, office, a friend or family members’ home)!
Privacy settings
o Ensure that you regularly review your privacy settings
o Remove geotags on previously posted photos from these personal locations by viewing your photomap (Instagram)
o If you’re a Snapchat user, be sure you know who can view your Snapchat stories and who can contact you
Social engineering scams come in many forms, Norton adds. Some files of thumb include:
- Don’t open e-mails or click on attachments from those you don’t know
- Be sceptical: just because you’ve seen it on your newsfeed doesn’t mean it’s not a scam. Your friends may have fallen victim to a click-jacking scam and may not not even be aware of it. They may have clicked on a link which then hijacks their address book and sends phishing requests to their friends without their knowledge.
- Hover over the URL before clicking to see what kind of site you’ll be redirected to – it is best to visit only websites you know and trust. Tools like Norton Safe Search can verify a website’s legitimacy
- Be suspicious of any calls to action such as filling a form (phishes personal details), downloading a plug-in (could be malware) or the need to share with friends before actually watching or reading the promised content
- Report suspicious activities or content to the social media platform or your e-mail service provider
posted from Bloggeroid
