Oscar 2020 nominated films are being used as bait to attract victims in virtual scams. According to a Kaspersky survey released last Thursday (6), the strategy involves phishing sites that make the user answer surveys, provide personal data, install adware on the computer and even enter credit card data to obtain the content wanted. The download, in turn, usually does not exist or a malware.
READ: Oscar nominated films 2020: know where to watch each production
The feature Joker (Joker) had 304 related viruses and the most dangerous to search on the Internet. Second comes 1917, with 215 occurrences, followed by O Irlands (The Irishman), with 179 malicious files posing as genuine download. Korean Parasite (Parasite) has not registered associated threats and can be considered the safest in web searches. The survey did not reveal data specific to Brazil.
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The malware is hosted on sites that use increased user interest to gain a good position on Google and gain popularity on Twitter through fake accounts. Pages offering free download of the Joker movie, for example, peaked after three weeks from the theatrical release date.
Joker the most dangerous Oscar movie to search on the internet, according to Kaspersky Photo: Marvin Costa / Tech
The simplest way to not fall for scams like choosing to watch a movie through a legitimate platform. Several Oscar nominees are available on streaming services, such as YouTube, Vimeo, Netflix, Now, iTunes and Google Play Movies.
It is also important to avoid links that appear on social networks and WhatsApp, even if they appear to be some of these famous sites. As a precaution, type the name of the service on Google to make sure that it is not falling into a homographic stroke, in which a fake page uses an address similar to the real one to deceive.
Fake pages promise fraudulent download of Oscar 2020 films Photo: Reproduo / Kaspersky
If you choose to download a video from the Internet, doubt pages that ask to conduct research or provide personal data to give access to the material. Sites that ask for the cell phone number, for example, usually register the line with paid SMS services to profit from it. In addition, it is worth noting the file extension: the .mp4, .mkv, .m4a or .avi formats are normal for video, already .exe or .msi can be viruses.
