Fake news site alters real story of flamy car crash, attempts to spread malware on your computer
By Joshua Gillin on Tuesday, April 11th, two thousand seventeen at 1:55 p.m.
A fake news website looking to spread malware lured readers by altering details of a tragically true news story of a fatal car wreck that killed two women and several children.
At least twenty two posts we very first noticed on April Ten, 2017, on the website CountyNewsroom.info carried headlines that proclaimed, “Two moms, five kids killed in car crash,” followed by the name of a county, such as Stark County or Schuyler County.
Facebook users flagged numerous versions of the story as being potentially fake, as part of the social media site`s efforts to combat fake news in user feeds.
The story is fake, albeit it does steal details from a real event (more on that in a 2nd). The posts at CountyNewsroom.info emerge to exist to goad readers into clicking on them because a familiar county name is used.
When users get to the site, however, pornographic malware can be downloaded onto their computers. We won`t be linking to any of the stories for that reason.
The site made a minimal attempt to look official, using the CountyNewsroom.info domain and listing the author of the posts as “Police.” The graphics used evoke cracking news from a real media outlet, and can switch from post to post. Some of the articles have comments posted voicing sympathy for the victims, albeit it`s not entirely clear if those comments are real or not.
There is no contact information on the website, but it is registered to an administrator in Tbilisi, Georgia. The petite country in the Caucasus has been a growing source of numerous fake news websites since the two thousand sixteen presidential campaign.
We emailed the person listed in the WHOIS lookup, but have not heard back.
The story, meantime, gives no indication in which state it is located, but the details of the accident are identical in each version. Two fellows – Carter Anderson, 35, and Nathan Mcconaghy, forty seven – were the foot survivors of a crash that killed their families, the posts said.
According to the story, the two guys were in a minivan with their families when the minivan hit a black BMW on the side of the road. The minivan was then struck from behind by “a big equipment,” sending the minivan toppling into a ravine.
The minivan caught fire, the story read, and the two guys managed to escape. Their wives and children, aged 1, Trio, 6, seven and twelve years old, were trapped and died in the fire. The guys were severely burned on their mitts and faces attempting to rescue their families, but had to be restrained by authorities.
“Words can`t describe what that was like when we arrived on scene,” a law enforcement official identified only as Officer Dan Williams was quoted in the posts. “It was very horrific eyeing them attempting to get their families out, us attempting to help get their families out. Like I said, the van went up in flames very, very quickly.”
The two fellows were airlifted to an unspecified hospital, the article said.
While that particular accident is fake, the framework of the article has been taken from a real-life tragedy in June two thousand sixteen near Gorman, Calif. Some, but not all, of the details were switched.
Two California guys named Aaron Hon Wing Ng, 34, of San Francisco and Wei Xiong Li, 45, of Daly City were involved in a nighttime accident that happened as described in the fake post. Their wives and four children, not five, were trapped in their minivan and killed in the flamy wreck. The children were aged Two, Trio, four and Five, and the two guys did suffer burns attempting to save their families.
The quote is unaltered, and came from a California Highway Patrol officer named Dan Williams. Another CHP officer also is quoted in some true reporting of the incident.
The author of the post made minimal switches to real news stories about the accident, using the shocking specifics to idiot readers into clicking.
But visitors thinking they are reading about a local accident end up being fooled into exposing their computers to an attack with pornographic software.
Fake news site alters real story of flamy car crash, attempts to spread malware on your computer, PunditFact
Fake news site alters real story of flamy car crash, attempts to spread malware on your computer
By Joshua Gillin on Tuesday, April 11th, two thousand seventeen at 1:55 p.m.
A fake news website looking to spread malware lured readers by altering details of a tragically true news story of a fatal car wreck that killed two women and several children.
At least twenty two posts we very first noticed on April Ten, 2017, on the website CountyNewsroom.info carried headlines that proclaimed, “Two moms, five kids killed in car crash,” followed by the name of a county, such as Stark County or Schuyler County.
Facebook users flagged numerous versions of the story as being potentially fake, as part of the social media site`s efforts to combat fake news in user feeds.
The story is fake, albeit it does steal details from a real event (more on that in a 2nd). The posts at CountyNewsroom.info show up to exist to goad readers into clicking on them because a familiar county name is used.
When users get to the site, however, pornographic malware can be downloaded onto their computers. We won`t be linking to any of the stories for that reason.
The site made a minimal attempt to look official, using the CountyNewsroom.info domain and listing the author of the posts as “Police.” The graphics used evoke violating news from a real media outlet, and can switch from post to post. Some of the articles have comments posted voicing sympathy for the victims, albeit it`s not entirely clear if those comments are real or not.
There is no contact information on the website, but it is registered to an administrator in Tbilisi, Georgia. The puny country in the Caucasus has been a growing source of numerous fake news websites since the two thousand sixteen presidential campaign.
We emailed the person listed in the WHOIS lookup, but have not heard back.
The story, meantime, gives no indication in which state it is located, but the details of the accident are identical in each version. Two boys – Carter Anderson, 35, and Nathan Mcconaghy, forty seven – were the foot survivors of a crash that killed their families, the posts said.
According to the story, the two dudes were in a minivan with their families when the minivan hit a black BMW on the side of the road. The minivan was then struck from behind by “a big equipment,” sending the minivan toppling into a ravine.
The minivan caught fire, the story read, and the two fellows managed to escape. Their wives and children, aged 1, Trio, 6, seven and twelve years old, were trapped and died in the fire. The boys were severely burned on their mitts and faces attempting to rescue their families, but had to be restrained by authorities.
“Words can`t describe what that was like when we arrived on scene,” a law enforcement official identified only as Officer Dan Williams was quoted in the posts. “It was very horrific eyeing them attempting to get their families out, us attempting to help get their families out. Like I said, the van went up in flames very, very quickly.”
The two boys were airlifted to an unspecified hospital, the article said.
While that particular accident is fake, the framework of the article has been taken from a real-life tragedy in June two thousand sixteen near Gorman, Calif. Some, but not all, of the details were switched.
Two California boys named Aaron Hon Wing Ng, 34, of San Francisco and Wei Xiong Li, 45, of Daly City were involved in a nighttime accident that happened as described in the fake post. Their wives and four children, not five, were trapped in their minivan and killed in the flamy wreck. The children were aged Two, Trio, four and Five, and the two guys did suffer burns attempting to save their families.
The quote is unaltered, and came from a California Highway Patrol officer named Dan Williams. Another CHP officer also is quoted in some true reporting of the incident.
The author of the post made minimal switches to real news stories about the accident, using the shocking specifics to idiot readers into clicking.
But visitors thinking they are reading about a local accident end up being fooled into exposing their computers to an attack with pornographic software.
Fake news site alters real story of flamy car crash, attempts to spread malware on your computer, PunditFact
Fake news site alters real story of flamy car crash, attempts to spread malware on your computer
By Joshua Gillin on Tuesday, April 11th, two thousand seventeen at 1:55 p.m.
A fake news website looking to spread malware lured readers by altering details of a tragically true news story of a fatal car wreck that killed two women and several children.
At least twenty two posts we very first noticed on April Ten, 2017, on the website CountyNewsroom.info carried headlines that proclaimed, “Two moms, five kids killed in car crash,” followed by the name of a county, such as Stark County or Schuyler County.
Facebook users flagged numerous versions of the story as being potentially fake, as part of the social media site`s efforts to combat fake news in user feeds.
The story is fake, albeit it does steal details from a real event (more on that in a 2nd). The posts at CountyNewsroom.info show up to exist to goad readers into clicking on them because a familiar county name is used.
When users get to the site, however, pornographic malware can be downloaded onto their computers. We won`t be linking to any of the stories for that reason.
The site made a minimal attempt to look official, using the CountyNewsroom.info domain and listing the author of the posts as “Police.” The graphics used evoke violating news from a real media outlet, and can switch from post to post. Some of the articles have comments posted voicing sympathy for the victims, albeit it`s not entirely clear if those comments are real or not.
There is no contact information on the website, but it is registered to an administrator in Tbilisi, Georgia. The puny country in the Caucasus has been a growing source of numerous fake news websites since the two thousand sixteen presidential campaign.
We emailed the person listed in the WHOIS lookup, but have not heard back.
The story, meantime, gives no indication in which state it is located, but the details of the accident are identical in each version. Two studs – Carter Anderson, 35, and Nathan Mcconaghy, forty seven – were the foot survivors of a crash that killed their families, the posts said.
According to the story, the two guys were in a minivan with their families when the minivan hit a black BMW on the side of the road. The minivan was then struck from behind by “a big equipment,” sending the minivan toppling into a ravine.
The minivan caught fire, the story read, and the two dudes managed to escape. Their wives and children, aged 1, Trio, 6, seven and twelve years old, were trapped and died in the fire. The guys were severely burned on their palms and faces attempting to rescue their families, but had to be restrained by authorities.
“Words can`t describe what that was like when we arrived on scene,” a law enforcement official identified only as Officer Dan Williams was quoted in the posts. “It was very horrific eyeing them attempting to get their families out, us attempting to help get their families out. Like I said, the van went up in flames very, very quickly.”
The two fellows were airlifted to an unspecified hospital, the article said.
While that particular accident is fake, the framework of the article has been taken from a real-life tragedy in June two thousand sixteen near Gorman, Calif. Some, but not all, of the details were switched.
Two California guys named Aaron Hon Wing Ng, 34, of San Francisco and Wei Xiong Li, 45, of Daly City were involved in a nighttime accident that happened as described in the fake post. Their wives and four children, not five, were trapped in their minivan and killed in the flamy wreck. The children were aged Two, Trio, four and Five, and the two guys did suffer burns attempting to save their families.
The quote is unaltered, and came from a California Highway Patrol officer named Dan Williams. Another CHP officer also is quoted in some true reporting of the incident.
The author of the post made minimal switches to real news stories about the accident, using the shocking specifics to loser readers into clicking.
But visitors thinking they are reading about a local accident end up being fooled into exposing their computers to an attack with pornographic software.
Fake news site alters real story of flamy car crash, attempts to spread malware on your computer, PunditFact
Fake news site alters real story of flamy car crash, attempts to spread malware on your computer
By Joshua Gillin on Tuesday, April 11th, two thousand seventeen at 1:55 p.m.
A fake news website looking to spread malware lured readers by altering details of a tragically true news story of a fatal car wreck that killed two women and several children.
At least twenty two posts we very first noticed on April Ten, 2017, on the website CountyNewsroom.info carried headlines that announced, “Two moms, five kids killed in car crash,” followed by the name of a county, such as Stark County or Schuyler County.
Facebook users flagged numerous versions of the story as being potentially fake, as part of the social media site`s efforts to combat fake news in user feeds.
The story is fake, albeit it does steal details from a real event (more on that in a 2nd). The posts at CountyNewsroom.info show up to exist to goad readers into clicking on them because a familiar county name is used.
When users get to the site, however, pornographic malware can be downloaded onto their computers. We won`t be linking to any of the stories for that reason.
The site made a minimal attempt to look official, using the CountyNewsroom.info domain and listing the author of the posts as “Police.” The graphics used evoke violating news from a real media outlet, and can switch from post to post. Some of the articles have comments posted voicing sympathy for the victims, albeit it`s not entirely clear if those comments are real or not.
There is no contact information on the website, but it is registered to an administrator in Tbilisi, Georgia. The puny country in the Caucasus has been a growing source of numerous fake news websites since the two thousand sixteen presidential campaign.
We emailed the person listed in the WHOIS lookup, but have not heard back.
The story, meantime, gives no indication in which state it is located, but the details of the accident are identical in each version. Two studs – Carter Anderson, 35, and Nathan Mcconaghy, forty seven – were the foot survivors of a crash that killed their families, the posts said.
According to the story, the two dudes were in a minivan with their families when the minivan hit a black BMW on the side of the road. The minivan was then struck from behind by “a big equipment,” sending the minivan toppling into a ravine.
The minivan caught fire, the story read, and the two boys managed to escape. Their wives and children, aged 1, Trio, 6, seven and twelve years old, were trapped and died in the fire. The studs were severely burned on their palms and faces attempting to rescue their families, but had to be restrained by authorities.
“Words can`t describe what that was like when we arrived on scene,” a law enforcement official identified only as Officer Dan Williams was quoted in the posts. “It was very horrific observing them attempting to get their families out, us attempting to help get their families out. Like I said, the van went up in flames very, very quickly.”
The two fellows were airlifted to an unspecified hospital, the article said.
While that particular accident is fake, the framework of the article has been taken from a real-life tragedy in June two thousand sixteen near Gorman, Calif. Some, but not all, of the details were switched.
Two California dudes named Aaron Hon Wing Ng, 34, of San Francisco and Wei Xiong Li, 45, of Daly City were involved in a nighttime accident that happened as described in the fake post. Their wives and four children, not five, were trapped in their minivan and killed in the flamy wreck. The children were aged Two, Three, four and Five, and the two boys did suffer burns attempting to save their families.
The quote is unaltered, and came from a California Highway Patrol officer named Dan Williams. Another CHP officer also is quoted in some true reporting of the incident.
The author of the post made minimal switches to real news stories about the accident, using the shocking specifics to loser readers into clicking.
But visitors thinking they are reading about a local accident end up being fooled into exposing their computers to an attack with pornographic software.
Fake news site alters real story of flamy car crash, attempts to spread malware on your computer, PunditFact
Fake news site alters real story of flamy car crash, attempts to spread malware on your computer
By Joshua Gillin on Tuesday, April 11th, two thousand seventeen at 1:55 p.m.
A fake news website looking to spread malware lured readers by altering details of a tragically true news story of a fatal car wreck that killed two women and several children.
At least twenty two posts we very first noticed on April Ten, 2017, on the website CountyNewsroom.info carried headlines that proclaimed, “Two moms, five kids killed in car crash,” followed by the name of a county, such as Stark County or Schuyler County.
Facebook users flagged numerous versions of the story as being potentially fake, as part of the social media site`s efforts to combat fake news in user feeds.
The story is fake, albeit it does steal details from a real event (more on that in a 2nd). The posts at CountyNewsroom.info emerge to exist to goad readers into clicking on them because a familiar county name is used.
When users get to the site, however, pornographic malware can be downloaded onto their computers. We won`t be linking to any of the stories for that reason.
The site made a minimal attempt to look official, using the CountyNewsroom.info domain and listing the author of the posts as “Police.” The graphics used evoke cracking news from a real media outlet, and can switch from post to post. Some of the articles have comments posted voicing sympathy for the victims, albeit it`s not entirely clear if those comments are real or not.
There is no contact information on the website, but it is registered to an administrator in Tbilisi, Georgia. The puny country in the Caucasus has been a growing source of numerous fake news websites since the two thousand sixteen presidential campaign.
We emailed the person listed in the WHOIS lookup, but have not heard back.
The story, meantime, gives no indication in which state it is located, but the details of the accident are identical in each version. Two boys – Carter Anderson, 35, and Nathan Mcconaghy, forty seven – were the foot survivors of a crash that killed their families, the posts said.
According to the story, the two dudes were in a minivan with their families when the minivan hit a black BMW on the side of the road. The minivan was then struck from behind by “a big equipment,” sending the minivan toppling into a ravine.
The minivan caught fire, the story read, and the two guys managed to escape. Their wives and children, aged 1, Trio, 6, seven and twelve years old, were trapped and died in the fire. The boys were severely burned on their palms and faces attempting to rescue their families, but had to be restrained by authorities.
“Words can`t describe what that was like when we arrived on scene,” a law enforcement official identified only as Officer Dan Williams was quoted in the posts. “It was very horrific watching them attempting to get their families out, us attempting to help get their families out. Like I said, the van went up in flames very, very quickly.”
The two boys were airlifted to an unspecified hospital, the article said.
While that particular accident is fake, the framework of the article has been taken from a real-life tragedy in June two thousand sixteen near Gorman, Calif. Some, but not all, of the details were switched.
Two California boys named Aaron Hon Wing Ng, 34, of San Francisco and Wei Xiong Li, 45, of Daly City were involved in a nighttime accident that happened as described in the fake post. Their wives and four children, not five, were trapped in their minivan and killed in the flamy wreck. The children were aged Two, Trio, four and Five, and the two fellows did suffer burns attempting to save their families.
The quote is unaltered, and came from a California Highway Patrol officer named Dan Williams. Another CHP officer also is quoted in some true reporting of the incident.
The author of the post made minimal switches to real news stories about the accident, using the shocking specifics to idiot readers into clicking.
But visitors thinking they are reading about a local accident end up being fooled into exposing their computers to an attack with pornographic software.