Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370: ‘Plane Found by Sailor Moments Ago’ Facebook Message Is Really Bogus Survey Scam

In another example of shameless internet scammers, the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 allegedly being found is a new vehicle to trick Facebook users into clicking on a video link that doesn’t lead to a video, but does earn money for the scammers.

According to the International Business Times, this latest hoax uses an image, supposedly of the fallen Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 submerged in water, to lure Facebook users to click through the image to access a video.

Hoax-Slayer.com reports that the effort is that of greedy online scammers to trick people into taking their surveys. While using the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 to entice people to follow their links is a new tactic, Hoax-Slayer also reports that this is just a new incarnation of an old scam:

“Over recent years, Facebook has been plagued by the type of nefarious scheme that we refer to collectively as survey scams,” says Hoax-Slayer. “The tactics used by these survey scammers vary between incarnations of the scam. But, scratch the surface, and you will find that they are all basically the same old con.”

In this Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 version, Facebook users receive a message circulating on Facebook that says the “lost Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 was found by a sailor moments ago.” This message is presented as a clickable image that will take you to a video report of the MH370 discovery and more information.

The downed plane in the picture, of course, isn’t Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 at all, the plane pictured actually being the US Airways plane that landed in the Hudson River in 2009, famously piloted by Captain Sully.

What’s worse, the scammers designed the MH370 scam so that people end up spamming their friends and trying to get them to take the bogus surveys too!

One interesting detail included in the message is that the “sailor” that found Malaysia Airlines Flight MH-370 immediately scored a $5 million dollar reward! Way to go imaginary sailor hero!!!

In the end, according to Hoax-Slayer, all claims in these types of Facebook messages, particularly ones focused on the tragically lost Malaysian Airlines jetliner being found, “are callous lies designed to further the goals of online scammers”. If you were to follow their links, like a carrot on a stick, you’d be presented with more pop-up messages, saying you, and your friends, must take their surveys in order to see the “MH370 Found” video. But of course you’ll never see any video because MH370 hasn’t been found and there was never any video in the first place!

Just like Malaysia’s claim that the hunt for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 will “never end”, so too will your search for an “MH370 Found” video if you click on one of these bogus Facebook links.

Images via Facebook and Hoax-Slayer.com