Hackers Offer Fake Flash Player Updater Via Google Alerts

Cybercriminals are currently trying to make a profit from the end of Adobe Flash Player with a nasty trick. They proceed very perfidiously and create fake reports in order to attract users via Google Alerts. And that works terrifyingly well.

The scammers use Google Alerts to advertise a fake, alleged Adobe Flash Player updater, which then installs completely different unwanted programs on the computers of unsuspecting users via Bleeping Computer. The trick is simple: first, messages are created with titles that contain popular keywords. As soon as these are then indexed by Google Search, Google Alerts automatically alerts people who follow these keywords.

Alleged flash updater is offered

Then when a visitor visits the fake articles via a Google redirect link, they will be redirected to the malicious website of the scammers. Browser notification spam, unwanted extensions or alleged giveaways and voucher campaigns are common on the websites. The latest scam now works with the fact that the Flash Player is no longer updated. The scammers then report that the visitor’s Flash Player is out of date and ask you to install an updater.

The unknowns take advantage of the ignorance of many Internet users about the end of the support of the Flash Player or speculate that users think they could avoid the end of Flash with such an update. With the installer for the alleged flash, the update comes malware called “One Updater” piggyback. Little is known about this so far. Software similar to One Updater has installed password-stealing Trojans and cryptocurrency miners in the past.

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Bleeping Computer’s advice is therefore very simple: “If you are redirected to a website, whether through Google Alerts, Google Search or otherwise, and are asked to install an add-on or program update, close Just open the browser. ” Installing these programs usually leads to malicious activity or behaviour that only the scammers can benefit from.