Victims are led to believe that stolen images of Emma Watson and Paige are behind the links. In reality, the photos are hiding malware
Last week some actresses and sportswomen were targeted once again by hackers. As it happened already in 2014, new sexy images and videos of many celebrities, including Emma Watson, were allegedly stolen from the smartphones of the victims and then published on the internet.
The case was named Fappening 2.0. Now comes an alarm: some of these photos actually could hide malware. This is what has been discovered by researchers from MalwareBytes, a company expert in cybersecurity. The hackers are allegedly exploiting the images to push onlookers to download malicious applications. And, according to MalwareBytes' data, thousands of people have fallen into the hackers' trap. The scam is reportedly earning cyber criminals millions of dollars as it allows cyber criminals to place advertising links on affected users' devices.
Twitter users affected
The new scam, which leverages users' desire to snoop into the most intimate sphere of some of the most beautiful celebrities, mainly affects Twitter users, who are "invited" to download the malicious software. The tone of the sentences is always the same, arousing interest. In particular, the links refer to videos and photos of WWE superstar Paige. Once installed, the malicious app, connected to a site called ViralNews, allows hackers to access victims' Twitter profiles. According to MalwareBytes, the cyber crooks can read timeline messages, access followers and users you follow and even write tweets on behalf of victims.
Don't download Emma Watson photos
Like a Chinese box, the trick to trick users has multiple layers. After trying to download Emma Watson and Paige photos, users are asked to click on other link to get an Amazon Gift Card. Obviously, this is a scam designed to steal personal data and Twitter login credentials. Phishing, to put it simply.