Other LanguagesThe Associated Press ran a story about fake YouTube pages used to spread viruses. The report warns:
Even some sophisticated surfers could get taken in by a sneaky new attack in which criminals create fake YouTube pages — dead-on replicas of the real site — to push their malicious software and make it look like it's safe stuff coming from a trusted source.
A program circulating online helps hackers build those fake pages. Users who follow an e-mail pointing them to one of the pages would see an error message that claims the video they want won't play without installing new software first. That error message includes a link the hacker has provided to a malicious program, which delivers a virus.
Even worse: once the computer is infected, it's simple for the hacker to silently redirect the victims to a real YouTube page to see videos they were hoping to see — and hide the crime.
Two red flags will help you spot the dangerous copycats:
- The Web browser won’t show the real YouTube's Internet address.
- You have to first follow a link to see the malicious page.