Facebook users should be aware of a scam campaign spreading on the social networking website that falsely claims actor Rowan Atkinson – famous for playing the character Mr. Bean – has committed suicide.
A number of different versions of the scam have popped up on Facebook, including the examples below.
BBC Breaking News: Mr Bean (Rowan Atkinson) died at 58 after commiting suicide
However the links are leading to rogue Facebook applications that can access the information you upload onto Facebook. These apps can even post the same spammy links from your own Facebook account should you give them permission to do so. Eagle eyed readers would have been immediately suspicious when one of the graphics above falsely claims Atkinson was born in 1995, not 1955.
The links may appear like they come from BBC News or Fox News. The website that appears in the link preview may list either the BBC or FOX news websites, but this does not mean the story has come from these websites. Upon clicking these links, users are forwarded to either spammy websites or rogue Facebook applications that ask permission to install on your account.
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It is important that you neither install the Facebook app nor download any files if requested to do so. These are a part of the scam and are likely to install malware onto your computer.
Actor Rowan Atkinson is alive and well. He has not committed suicide and the stories are just used as bait to lure social media users into participating in an Internet scam.
TIP: If you see a story like this appear as a link on your Facebook newsfeed, but don’t trust the source of the link, open up your Internet browser and head over to your favourite reputable media outlet to try and verify the news. Celebrity deaths are likely to appear on the front page of major news outlets within hours of the news breaking.
