- Oct 23, 2012
- 12,527
Few misfits have started taking advantage of the recent Malaysian airlines plane crash online by posing as victims on Facebook, which has led the social networking service to issue a warning to users regarding the matter.
The Malaysian Airlines flight number MH17, traveling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was shot down over Eastern Ukraine -- which has led to some scammers exploiting the situation for monetary gains. According to Facebook, these scammers have set up profiles as Australians linked to the plane tragedy. The profiles link to certain blogs which feed the users with adware and other scam links.
A spokesperson for Facebook has assured users that the social network will be disabling the profiles when they are found, but has urged users to block and report suspicious behaviour as well. The Facebook team will be taking swift action against reported profiles.
It has been revealed by Bloomberg that many Dutch nationals and few Australians have fallen for these scam links already. The Dutch government has taken a tough stand against the situation and will prosecute the perpetrators if they are found, since 193 passengers from the Netherlands and 27 passengers from Australia lost their lives in the crash.
Social networks have often been of great help during times of crisis. However, there are always some people who misuse the services and cause inconvenience to others. The online community from Australia and Netherlands might be looking to help those in need, but these users must take security into consideration as well.
Source: Bloomberg | Image via PC World
