Aussies under fire with leaked Emma Watson video

A new scam uses the promise of naked videos of British actress Emma Watson to lure in unsuspecting Facebook users and spread malware, and the disguise is proving to fool many Aussies.

The Labs team at antivirus software provider Bitdefender found Australian Facebook users were among the top targets of the scam.

Instead of alluring videos, users allow several harmful Trojans onto their computers. These viruses take personal information including phone numbers and can even hijack Facebook sessions, liking pages and posting comments on behalf of the user. On top of this, users are also subscribed to premium SMS scams.

The malware looks like a Flash Player update with an error message that reads, “our system detected that you are using an outdated Video Player version” and offers an update download link.

When someone clicks on the link, they are redirected to a copycat of YouTube and are then told they need to update Flash Player in order to see the video. Not only this, the malware changes browser settings so they cannot see their extensions or Facebook activity.

It’s attention to detail such as this that has duped a number of people. Uploaded by the anonymous ‘Guy Fawkes’ account, the video has upwards of 1.5 million likes.

“It all starts with a Facebook comment promising to reveal private or leaked videos of Watson. The comments are automatically posted by users infected with the malware and as with many Facebook scams, victims quickly become marketers for cyber criminals,” said Bitdefender Virus Analyst Doina Cosovan.

This scam follows a September hoax that revolved around fake nude pictures of the actress by Rantic Marketing - the social media marketers.