Beware Fake Japan Charities & Malware: Likejacking & Scams

Fake 'Japanese Tsunami RAW Tidal Wave Footage' Likejacking Scam

The earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan have led to a predictable spike in Facebook scams. If you get a link to something like "Japanese Tsunami RAW Tidal Wave Footage', don't click it. It's a scam. You may be tricked into "liking" the page and then taking a personal-info-harvesting survey, and then propagating the scam. The term for this is likejacking. Several of my friends have fallen prey. Don't get pwned.

Sophos' Facebook page is a great resource for checking up on potential scams without leaving the social-networking environment. Also check out their Naked Security article on the Japan-related scams.

• Japan Earthquake & Tsunami: Feature Coverage
  

Scammers Take Advantage of Japan Earthquake & Tsunami

As was the case with the earthquakes in Haiti and Chile, scammers have taken advantage of public generosity in the wake of Japan's devastating earthquake and tsunami.

Email inboxes are getting flooded with come-ons ranging from blatant 419 scams to legit-seeming appeals for money. Websites are set up with "Japan", "earthquake", and/or "tsunami" in their URLs and then loaded with malware, so you end up getting screwed.

Even though Google and Bing try to eliminate the scammy crap from their indexing, these fake and malicious sites are multiplying like rabbits with tiger blood.

Symantec has a growing list of example fake URLs and emails. In fact, we suggest summarily deleting any unsolicited donation requests. If you want to help Japan, check out these Japan earthquake &tsunami relief donation resources. They're legit.