Bitdefender Anti-Prank tool, version 2.0!

Because our first version was so successful, we have launched the Bitdefender Anti-Prank tool, version 2.0!

Effective today, try it now!

What, the link doesn’t work? Well, it’s not supposed to.

Our innocent app is meant to put a smile on your face, but thousands of rogue links and apps put your identity and online safety at risk every second. Scammers mean business when it comes to stealing your credit card number, passwords or installing malware on your devices.

The are some of the oldest and newest pranks spotted in your Inbox:

The Nigerian scam. Fake distress e-mails adapt the scam script to the latest political or social realities. Fraudsters make up sad stories about someone inheriting big sums of money, selling a non-existing car or not being able to get out of a country. They need good-hearted people to send them money.

The charity scam is the hoax that tricks people into “liking” and sharing Facebook pages that allegedly “trade” likes for dollars. The truth is that these sad stories only help crooks use people’s engagement to redirect likes to fraudulent and malicious profiles and pages.

Fake CEO or fake president fraud. This scam consists in convincing the employee of a company to make an emergency bank transfer to a third party, in order to obey an alleged order of a leader under the pretext of a debt to pay, a provision in contract or a deposit, for instance.

Fake plane tickets hoax. The scam page claims a big airline company is giving away free first class tickets around the world. All you have to do is share the fake Facebook page on your Facebook Wall and send it to a group of friends.

Tax-related phishing scam. Official-looking communications are being sent, claiming to come from the IRS and companies that develop accounts software and provide services for assisting in the preparation of tax returns. And the tax-related criminal campaigns are not just being distributed via email, but are also being sent via SMS text messages.

You have surely stumbled across one of these scams. As harmless as they may seem, they can become a serious problem when one of your friends or employees falls for them and accidentally wires $3 million to Chinese hackers (see Mattel). So, be careful! Remember, a prank is supposed to make you laugh, not cry!