Scammers use Robin William's death to earn money

Have you seen Facebook posts claiming to link to a video message that actor Robin Williams made before his death earlier this week? Do not click on it — the video does not exist. According to Symantec, the post was created by scammers looking to profit on the actor’s death.

“There is no video. Users that click on the link to the supposed video are taken to a fake BBC News website. As with many social scams, users are required to perform actions before they can view the content. In this case, users are instructed to share the video on Facebook before watching,” Symantec security response manager Satnam Narang said in a blog post.

According to Symantec, the video has been shared over 24 million times on Facebook.

“Over the years, scammers have used both real and fake celebrity deaths as a way to convince users to click on links and perform actions. From Amy Winehouse and Paul Walker to the fake deaths of Miley Cyrus and Will Smith, scammers are opportunistic and always looking for ways to capitalize,” Narang reminded the public.

“Scammers operating these sites use affiliate programs to earn money for the completion of surveys and file downloads,” said Narang, who added Symantec has alerted Facebook about this

When you click on the link, you’re asked to share the link and fill out a survey before you can view the “video.” Filling out the survey generates revenue for the scammers and, as you might expect, there is no video. This type of scam is called "click bait".

The BBB offers the following tips to protect against "click bait" scams:

• Don't take the bait. Stay away from promotions of "exclusive," "shocking" or "sensational" footage. If it sounds too outlandish to be true, it is probably a scam.
• Hover over a link to see its true destination. Before you click, mouse over the link to see where it will take you. Don't click on links leading to unfamiliar websites.
• Don't trust your "friends" online. It might not actually be your friends who are "liking" or sharing scam links to photos. Their account may have been hacked and scammers could be using another tactic called "clickjacking." Clickjacking is a technique that scammers use to trick you into clicking on social media links that you would not usually click on.
• Report scam posts on Facebook by following these instructions.
• Report malware or spam on Twitter by following these instructions.