The death of Queen Elizabeth II is giving rise to scams and fake news – Komando

The more widespread the news, the more scams and hoaxes youll see. The pandemic gave rise to countless scams involving fake news, fake testing kits, and dangerous misinformation disguised as legitimate research. We saw similar tactics when Russia invaded Ukraine.

Celebrities are also a common ingredient in a scammers bag of tricks the more well-known, the better. Recently, a video of Elon Musk surfaced in which the Tesla and SpaceX CEO promoted cryptocurrency. Guess what? The footage was phony. Tap or click here for tips on spotting deepfake videos.

With the death of Queen Elizabeth II, the potential for new scams is enormous. People worldwide are sharing news of the Queens passing, and youre bound to find false and dangerous information. Heres what to watch out for.

Queen Elizabeth II died on Sept. 8, 2022, at 96 years old. But rumors of her death have been circulating for some time. This is nothing new. Countless public figures have been the victims of death hoaxes, especially with the rise of social media.

Name a superstar, and theres a post about their death somewhere out there. Some celebrities even expire on an annual basis. While false news of celebrity deaths seems harmless, its part of a more significant problem of misinformation.

Learn the tech tips and tricks only the pros know.

Celebrity death hoaxes work because they tug at peoples emotions. And the urge to share correlates with that. You may think this cant hurt anyone, but it helps to keep the fake news train rolling.

Not to mention that families, friends and the hoax victim can suffer severe emotional distress over whats considered a harmless prank.

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When a famous person dies, scammers come out of the woodwork. Now that the Queen has passed, therell be even more to watch out for. Youre going to see scams involving everything from cryptocurrency to commemorative merchandise. Also, look for posts promising videos or photos of her final moments gruesome stuff.

Several scammy tokens such as Queen Elizabeth Inu, God Save the Queen, Queen, QueenDoge, London Bridge is Down and Rip Queen Elizabeth has already been launched. Stay far, far away.

Dont be surprised if you see a post about some crown jewels being released to the first 10,000 people to give their financial information. Or a post about Queen Elizabeth II gift cards. How about a Tweet from 2017 that predicted the Queens death? We came up with these examples ourselves, but its all been done before under similar circumstances.

Some Australian groups are using the Queens death as a segue into discussing the end of the British monarchys influence on Australian politics. Australia is a constitutional monarchy, meaning the Queen was the head of state.

Fake news will follow this political movement, as well. Watch for sensational headlines and posts declaring Australia is breaking ties with the U.K. Unless you see it on a trustworthy news source, dont buy into it.

Theres a good chance youll receive emails claiming to have details on this significant event. In reality, its a phishing message with malicious links looking to infect your device with malware or steal your personal information. Links on social media shouldnt be trusted, either.

If you see a scammy or fake post, report it. Dont share it, and definitely dont click on it. Youll just be giving the crooks more ammunition.

Here are some more tips to stay safe:

Watch out for this tricky new Instagram scam

Dont fall for this tech support email scam

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The death of Queen Elizabeth II is giving rise to scams and fake news - Komando