Amy Winehouse death video scams appear on Facebook

Filed Under: Facebook, Social networks, Spam

Troubled singer Amy Winehouse was found dead in her North London home today, making headlines around the world. Within four hours, cold-hearted scammers were taking advantage of her death on Facebook.

If you see links like the following in your newsfeed, please don't click on them.

Amy Winehouse is dead!!

Amy Winehouse is dead!!
Leaked Video!! Amy Winehouse On Crack hours before death
[LINK]
Amy Winehouse getting high on crack just hours before she died

Video leaked of Amy Winehouse's death

Video leaked of amy winehouse's death!!! Warning: Graphical Content.
[LINK]
Amy Winehouse OVERDOSE VIDEO LEAKED! - RIP AMY

Amy Winehouse death video scam

Amy Winehouse Night Before Death Video
[LINK]
Warning : 18+

Amy Winehouse death video scam

SHOCKING - Amy Winehouse's Final Minutes
[LINK]
A video has surfaced of Amy Winehouse's final minutes.

Amy Winehouse death video scam

UPDATE SOCKING VIDEO FOOTAGE RELEASED OF AMY WINEHOUSE MOMENTS BEFORE DEATH
[LINK]
[VIDEO]This is real footage moments before the death of Amy Winehouse (Warning this content is for 18+ only)

Scammers are like vultures, feeding off tragedies such as the death of Amy Winehouse or the horrific events in Norway yesterday.

Scams like this normally lead you to online surveys, with the scammers earning themselves commission for each survey that victims complete. But first they trick you into sharing the link with your other Facebook friends.

Amy Winehouse survey scam

If you got hit by this scam, make sure you have removed the entries from your news feed (to stop them being shared amongst your friends), marking them as spam if you like, and check your profile does not have any unwanted "Likes" under your "Likes and interests".

If you use Facebook and want to get an early warning about the latest attacks, I strongly recommend you join the Sophos Facebook page where we have a thriving community of over 100,000 people.


Hat-tip: Thanks to Naked Security reader Amy for first alerting us about this scam, and for other members of the Sophos Facebook page for sending us other examples.

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16 Responses to Amy Winehouse death video scams appear on Facebook

  1. Stephen Walls says:

    Well done Graham. I'm absolutely amazed you got on this one so quick.

  2. toby f says:

    as long as pond scum can walk & talk we will never truly advance as a species

  3. rickamy says:

    very well done,,, indeed. Thank you for helping me keep my friends safe.

  4. Paul says:

    Truly original in every aspect, it was her life, how she chose to live is her option! Success can be painful, the parents deserve a medal. Take care and godbless "Mrs Uniqueness to Music"! pmoir

  5. Amo says:

    I cant believe there are still idiots out there who still click on this crap

  6. rebecca says:

    The scam has a virus in it.
    I thought it was real and was shocked. I clicked on it and a threat was detected with my virus scanner.

  7. @dwarkarn says:

    ummm it is not a virus. There is no such thing as a facebook virus.

    It is purely idiots clicking on the videos, doing the survey and allowing this to have access to their facebook account.

    That is not a virus.

  8. Lee says:

    cheers mate, as we try and keep one step ahead of the sickos

  9. Antony says:

    I see that Facebook has almost no measures in place to avoid this stuff spreading, my curious note is; how will this spam etc. fair on Google+? Which I am now a proud user of :)

  10. Steve says:

    Do people really still click on these obvious, over-the-top, sensationalized, malware-riddled links? Stupid Human Tricks at its finest! LOL

  11. Hunt For Justice says:

    Who''s click at that link is the dumbest peoples forever,that''s a scam and rogue,which means will hack your facebook account and download malware into your PC!!!

  12. Georgia says:

    To all the idiots who are slagging off people for clicking these links: There are loads of people still joining Facebook, many of whom are very new to the internet. They will not be aware of such threats and need to be warned. This is what this Sophos page is for and they do a great job. So get over yourselves!

  13. Ayo david says:

    So sorry to hear this but don't blame people clicking on this you say. People got suprise to hear the sad news and definately will want to get hinted without know the consequence. Person like me.....great that i came across your warning. Do try and go to the media and broadcast this warning for people to understand. I'm from nigeria.

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About the author

Graham Cluley has worked in the computer security industry for more than 20 years, developing anti-virus software and doing quite a lot of talking about internet threats. He's won awards for his blogging, but is proudest of the text adventure games he wrote when he was still wearing short trousers. You can learn more about those (the games, not the trousers) at grahamcluley.com. Send Graham an email, subscribe to his updates on Facebook, follow him on Twitter and App.net, and circle him on Google Plus for regular updates.