Cybercriminals often take advantage of news headlines to ensnare victims, and security researchers have warned of at least two scams involving stolen nude photos of dozens of celebrities including Jennifer Lawrence.
The first is a phishing scam, in which criminals send messages that appear to be legitimate, convincing victims to enter their account information. The stolen celebrity photos reportedly came from Apple accounts -- and scammers are sending fake texts and emails pretending to be from Apple support, security firm Symantec said in an alert on Monday. Users should not click on any links in these messages or provide login information.
The second threat, which both Symantec and security company TrendMicro warned about in a post on Friday, comes in the form of tweets with hashtags like #jenniferlawrence. The tweets include a shortened link to a video -- but users are directed to download a "video converter" that is actually malicious software. TrendMicro also warned of a variation making its way around Facebook, telling users to stick to trusted websites and avoid downloading any software.
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