Hackers take advantage of Erin Andrews video controversy

When a video of popular ESPN reporter Erin Andrews walking around nude in her hotel room hit the net, it became a hot topic. The video, taken through the peephole of the room without her knowledge, was searched for by thousands. Scammers noticed this and naturally scrambled to take advantage of it, unleashing a spam attack containing links that claim to lead to the much sought after video. Instead they lead right to malware.

When clicked on, the victim is subjected to the old error message trick, which tells them in order to view the video they must install a “software update,” new codec, or special player. The scammers bank on people being so eager to see the video that they’ll happily click the install button. The Trojan that’s downloaded takes over the system and adds it to a botnet, and chances are the user will never know it.

Just a few weeks ago scammers used the same trick but the links claimed to lead to exclusive photos or video footage of Michael Jackson’s funeral but instead lead the user to install malware.

The actual video has been yanked off the net after Andrews and ESPN threatened legal action, so if you come across any links claiming to lead to it, ignore/delete them immediately.

Read [MSNBC]