Name:

Jackie Chan Facebook Hoax

Descr. Added:

July 25, 2013

Type:

Hoax

Risk:

Medium

Payload:

N/A

At risk systems:

Windows 95/98/ME/XP/7/8/NT/2003

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Description:

If you have a facebook account and have logged into your account in the last month chances are that you've seen a post or a shared link from a facebook friend claiming Jackie Chan has ‘died after perfecting a deadly stunt’ (see the example below).




With a little online research on your own, you can quickly verify that the post above is nothing more than a facebook hoax, as any national news source like Foxnews or CNN would certainly have their own story covering the tragedy.


Why are users posting these types of facebook hoaxes?
As with most facebook hoax postings, we suspect users aren't intentionally posting such stories.  In most cases, they may have accidentally subscribed to a "bad" facebook app that is designed to post these hoax messages on to the users facebook wall.

Another way for these facebook hoaxes to spread is that they typically lure other facebook friends to watch a breaking news video or view a "must see" / "shocking" graphic. When users click on the link they are re-directed to alternate sites that are coded to perform various (often times malicious) behaviors. A popular behavior is for these sites to repost on your facebook wall (among other things).

For example, here is a look at the Jackie Chan hoax:

As the screenshot of the hoax above shows, this hoax appeals to the users curiosity by offering a breaking news video of the death of a popular celebrity to watch.  In this case, the link is:
http://www.facebook.com/katerspronews (the link is currently inactive)

After clicking on the link in order to watch the video, the user is redirected to the following links:

http://dgwdrkjh-34968.com/t00lh3adlines.php
http://dgwdrkjh-34968.com/headlines.php

(these links are also currently inactive as well).

It is on these pages, that the hoax will try to populate itself and could allow attackers the ability to perform malicious activity using it.


Why is this particular Jackie Chan hoax still around?
The Jackie Chan hoax has been and is still consider to be active "in-the-wild".  One of the many reasons is that the targeted websites are changing regularly. While the ones above may be inactive, the next round may point to different target websites.


What can a user do to safeguard themselves from falling victim to future scams/hoaxes?
If you’ve fallen victim to this hoax and it has been posted to your facebook wall, it is very important that you look for and uninstall any unknown app that may have been recently installed.  In addition, it is critical that you immediately change your facebook password.