"Girl killed herself" Facebook scam - be aware before you Share!

You know the saying about buses - you don't see one for ages, then three come along at once.

Facebook scams and hoaxes are a bit like that, except for the "you don't see one for ages" part.

But, judging by the most popular articles on Naked Security over the past couple of weeks, large-scale hoaxes and scams do sometimes come in threes.

A perfecta of long-running Facebook falsehoods has topped the charts recently.

Firstly, it was Talking Angela, the chat bot cat that was accused of all sorts ofdubious behavior - including behavior that isn't programmed into the software, couldn't have happened, yet was widely and regularly reported by people claiming "I saw it with my own eyes."

Secondly, it was the annual "Facebook will close from 29-31 February" hoax, circulated presumably as a joke but apparently taken seriously by some.

Now, it's the venerable "Girl killed herself video" bait-and-switch scam, already in its fifth year, that is making a reappearance.

→ Hoaxes and scams aren't the same, but they are similar in how they end up being shared over and over again. Generally, hoaxes are bogus warnings that spread because people forward them on the assumption that it's better to be safe than sorry. Scams are bogus links that spread because people forward them in return for some illusory benefit, such as access to an intriguing-sounding video.

We've written about the "Girl killed herself" video before, right back to 2010.

There are numerous variations on the theme, but the premise is often that a teenager committed suicide in shame after being caught out, perhaps by her own father, in some sort of inappropriate online activity.

There's a video, and you're invited to watch.

Here's how this sort of scam plays out, based on one of the versions circulating right now:

1. One of your friends Shares a link along the lines of "Girl killed herself live on cam."

2. It comes from a friend, so you click the link and arrive at a page that doesn't overtly claim to be affiliated with Facebook, but nevertheless uses visual clues to make it look more official than it is.

3. You're invited to Like the publisher's Facebook page, a request that seems routine and harmless enough:

4. If you take a look, the publisher's page was recently created and might best be described as uninspired and uninspiring, but it seems harmless enough, perhaps leading you into a false sense of safety. (Banality is a surprisingly good cover for scammers, when you think about it.)

5. You can skip past the Like popup, but before you watch the video, you are forced to Share it:

 6. And once you have shared it, you need to answer some questions as a sort of CAPTCHA - one of those tests to prove you're a person, in this case a person who's old enough to watch adult videos:

→ CAPTCHA stands for Completely Automated Procedure for Telling Computers and Humans Apart. CAPTCHAs are challenges that are meant to be reasonably easy for humans to work out, but tricky for computers to process accurately. Examples include reading fuzzy characters against a distracting background, or answering arithmetical questions written out longhand using words, not symbols.

Except that the questions to prove you are illegible are, in fact, pay-per-click surveys or special offer pages that clock up revenue for the scammers every time someone fills them in:

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Receive AdSense Payments using Wire Transfer in India

Being an Indian publisher we have to face the payments problems made by google as there are bad postal conditions and even after receiving that hard worked payment after 2 weeks in form of check we still have to deposit in the local branch to get the amount cleared in 4-5 days depending on the bank you have deposited it too. Well now earlier there were rumors that google will soon launch the another best possible method that EFT (Electronic Finds Transfer) that really fast and easy to be used.

What is EFT (Electronic Funds Transfer) or Wire Transfer

Well now you might be thinking that what is exactly Wire Transfer and why you should actually OPT in for

this feature, well Wire Transfer means getting your payments directly into your bank account, so this saves you from the bank trip to drop your check and then allow it to clear.

Well now with Wire Transfer it won’t take much long as after your payment is released by Google you will receive your payment in your bank account within 2-3 days possibly and now you do not have to think about those postal problems.

Well you have to bear few changes for this service its like Rs.56 – Rs.110 for once transfer, well that really nominal as you are bypassing all those check problem’s for GOD’s SAKE :p so see below how to apply for this feature.

How to Apply for AdSense Wire Transfer Payment Mode

Well still you do not have have any visible option to shift to this awesome feature but there is a little workaround as mentioned on this official announcement, well you need to activate the Self-Hold option before 16th of March 2014 to show AdSense that you are interested in this feature and would surely like to opt in for this feature.

• Receive AdSense Payments using Wire Transfer in India
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• Requirements for becoming Premium AdSense Publisher
• Make your AdSense Ad Units Responsive for More Clicks
• Make AdSense Ads Load Faster with Asynchronous Loading
• How to Change Google AdSense Account's Payee Name Easily

Well as they have said they will make this feature as default in upcoming months, but still they are not forcing everyone to opt in for this feature, so if you are really interested for this ne then you can easily activate this for free.

1. Open AdSense Account.
2. Now navigate to your Account Settings.
3. Now under Payment Settings, click on edit Self-Hold.
4. Now you need to mark HOLD Payments option and then press on Apply button.

That’s it now you have successfully completed the steps that would activate your feature within in a week or so, but make sure you do this before 16th of March 2014 as that’s the last date for changing your payment mode.

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