A Dictator Dies, Let’s Spam People

As with the deaths of Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden and Muammar Gadhafi, the death of North Korea’s Kim Jong-Il has inspired spammers to take advantage of people’s natural curiosity, Fox News reports. The news network even suggests the North Korea government might be trying to profit from the demise of the “Dear Leader.”

Unlike the other evildoers who’ve died in recent years, Kim’s passing was apparently peaceful, so grisly death videos aren’t bouncing around the Internet. But there are still plenty of scams to be wary of, especially links that are appearing on Facebook or showing up in Google search results. Even Twitter links can take you to pages that can infect your computer.

BBB’s advice:

1. Don’t let your curiosity get the better of you. If you want the latest, go to the homepage of a reputable news organization and read about Kim’s death there.
2. Don’t open any email attachments or click on any links.
3. Keep your anti-virus software up-to-date, and run a complete system scan if you have opened anything suspicious.

Fox suggests, “If you're just interested in laughs, the Tumblr blog ‘Kim Jong-Il Looking at Things’ should do nicely.”

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