Homework #4

In class this semester we have learned about many things relating to computer crimes that are experienced daily. Some of these scams can be very serious and end up giving your computer a virus, access to your files and information, and even crashing your computer all together.

I found an article that I thought was particularly interested due to the fact that one scamming company actually used Whitney Houston's death this past weekend to their advantage. GMA Network stated that one cybercriminal scam hacked into numerous Facebook’s and Twitters by a simple link that people believed were RIP videos of Whitney Houston herself. Once they would click the link that would then be presented to a false page that would look as if the video was loading. After the video was fully "loaded" and you pressed play is when the online scam would start. It would auto-direct you to a website that would ask you to take a brief survey before being able to watch the video. This would further benefit them with all the information that was linked with your Facebook or Twitter as well.

This scam was able to go viral in just a few minutes because it was circling the Internet so quickly once it all happened. On Facebook many people actually were putting up statuses and such that were related to Whitney Houston's death and this made it believable for the everyday person to click on. As far as Twitter goes #RIPWhitneyHouston was trending that night and if you clicked on the trend to see what was updated about her this link was also one of the more popular links that people were accessing. The article stated that "Even in death, the late singer Whitney Houston has fallen victim to cyber crooks who are using her demise to gain quick money at computer users' expense." Unfortunately these scammers know how to get into the public’s computers and information so be careful what you click on these days even if you think it is a simple tribute!