Hoax news makes residents spill beans

LUDHIANA: If you come across the news of the death of Mr Bean (actor Rowan Atkinson) on your Facebook account or WhatsApp and you are curious to know more by opening a link, then think twice. For, the news is fake and so is the link " where the actor has "recorded a message concerning his suicide". If you download the link in the forwarded mail, you"ll install malware.
The fake news created tense moments for the fans of Atkinson who were curious to know why the actor took the step. Apparently, rumours originated from a fake source who said that the 58-year-old actor took his life after a producer dropped him from "Johnny English 3". Later, it was found that both the news were fake. Such rumours have their origins in social platforms, where it is not easy to track the culprits as both the platforms do not store any data on their servers.
Trishneet Arora, ethical hacker from the city, said: "Culprits are aware that WhatsApp and Facebook do not store data on their servers, so the chances of getting tracked are less with such platforms. Many rumours have been spread using such platforms. Since one cannot stop the culprits, users should always cross-check the news with reputed news websites, and only then believe these. On platforms like Facebook, one should resist clicking on any links, because it can pass on your login and password details to the hackers. Besides, one should forward news links only after checking out from reputed news websites. Viral hacking also gets easy, especially with such rumours, as people are anxious to know details about their favourite stars."
So, if you click on his so-called "suicide video", you could unwittingly install malware in your system through which the hacker can access your personal details like login and password.
Ankit Aggarwal (22), a resident of Tagore Nagar, said: "I have also been a great fan of actor Rowan Atkinson, so the news of his death was quite shocking for me. The moment I read it, I shared the same on my wall. Later, through a friend, who had done her research well on the news, I got to know the news was false. So, I immediately removed the post from my wall and also asked my my friends on Whatsapp not to forward the same news."
Many stars in the past, including Jackie Chan, Celine Dion, Will Smith, Shaggy, Oprah Winfrey, Eminem, Angelina Jolie, and Miley Cyrus, have become victims to such death hoaxes. No police official was available for any comment.