Fake YouTube dupes visitors

A new hacking tool that’s been circulating on the internet allows online criminals to create fake YouTube pages that are specifically designed to infect computers with malware.

Distributed through web links, users are directed to the first fraudulent webpage – index.html – which claims that the video they’ve accessed cannot be viewed without installing a new version Adobe Flash Player or a similar plugin.

A link to the ‘required’ software is provided but instead tricks users into downloading the hacker’s file of choice.

Users are then led to another fake page, informing them that the video they were trying to view cannot be displayed. Very few suspect anything’s amiss as the tool creates realistic webpages, complete with fake video titles, descriptions and comments.

With hackers already in possession of the tool and the increasing popularity of YouTube, attacks are likely to get worse. Visitors to the website are advised to always verify the URLs of pages that are being viewed to make sure they come directly from YouTube.com