Justin Bieber 'naked video' scam on Pinterest lures users to Facebook

Scammers have started exploiting the image-oriented nature of new social network Pinterest, using it to lure members to a scam on Facebook, computer security firm BitDefender said. "In this case, a Pin apparently featuring Justin Bieber splashing his way out of the ocean with no clothes on has popped up to take Pinterest users to a Facebook page that’s supposed to host the Bieber images," it said. But the final stop turns out to be yet another survey maze, it added. It said that while scams centered on sex and Bieber are not new, this appeared to be the first cross-platform scam from Pinterest to Facebook. An earlier scam had gone the opposite direction, steering Facebook users to Pinterest. "This twist of technique is probably due to scammers’ key advantage on Pinterest: the very high impact of visual content makes it relatively easy for scams to spread, text-based social engineering techniques being almost unnecessary," it said. BitDefender added the newest scam appears to target people highly active on online social platforms – "more precisely the overlap between the Facebook and the Pinterest crowds." "As predictions about scams migrating from one platform to another and even building cross-platform malicious links are gradually confirmed, raising awareness about the existence of social scams and about the main baits they are likely to use is crucial. Despite the countless warnings against and lessons on social e-threats, scam history appears to repeat… with a twist," it added. — LBG, GMA News