Beware of Fake Video-Plugin Malware Scams

One of the most common ways malware can infect your computer is through fake video updates.

This social engineering trick that scammers often use basically tricks users into downloading what they think is an update for a video player.

This type of malware scam is initiated by luring the victim to a website purporting to show a video. However in order to get the video to play the victim is told that they must install an update (often referred to as a plug-in or a codec) to get the video to work.

Clicking on links and installing untrusted software will lead to trouble.

We are seeing this type of trick employed prolifically throughout the last year or so, and this type of scam is often spread on sites like Facebook and Twitter, where posts are spread by users offering to show videos that can be reached by clicking the link in the post.

There are two things that you should absolutely NOT do when clicking links on social media (or email) and that is –

1. NEVER share or like a webpage on your social media accounts in order to watch a video or “progress to the next step”.

2. NEVER download any files to your computer.

3. NEVER complete questionnaires, surveys, rewards offers or anything similar.

For these are common red flags to your typical Internet scam.

If you have downloaded something to your computer that you shouldn’t have, you need to make sure you run a full scan of your up-to-date, reputable antivirus.

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