Some MH17 Facebook Tribute Accounts are Fake! Goes to Gambling Ads and Porn Sites Instead
A woman writes a message on a dedication board for the victims of downed Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 in Kuala Lumpur July 23, 2014. A train carrying the remains of many of the 298 victims of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 arrived in a Ukrainian government-held city on Tuesday on the first leg of their final journey home to be reclaimed by their families. REUTERS/Samsul Said

The unfortunate incident about the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 crash on July 17, 2014 in Ukraine is still undergoing investigations. It has been said in various reports that the cause of the crash could have been due to a Buk surface-to-air missile that targeted the said plane. While one of the latest updates about it is the return of the flight MH17's black boxes to Malaysian custody and an international investigation team for further analysis, some people have chosen to take advantage of the situation by setting up several Facebook tribute accounts for the passengers of flight MH17. However, it was discovered that some MH17 Facebook tribute accounts are fake! Instead of honoring the memory of the victims of the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 crash, it goes to gambling ads and porn sites instead!

According to The Sydney Morning Herald, at least six of them were found to be fake Facebook accounts under the names of the flight MH17 victims! Three of these fake accounts even use the names of the children from West Australia who got killed in the crash!

These opportunistic people have been dubbed as "click fraudsters" and are scamming people into clicking a link to a blog with the promise of getting the latest info from the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 plane crash.

Upon clicking the link, the users are then bombarded with various pop-up ads including gambling ads and porn sites.

BBC also reported that one fake MH17 Facebook tribute account was set up under Liam Sweeney, one of the Malaysia Airlines plane crash victims. It has a link that promises to let users see a clip of the moment the MH17 plane crashed over Ukraine. It claims that a video camera caught it as it happened. But, when you do click it, it will just take you to a porn site.

These "click fraudsters" have not just victimized Internet users for the MH17 plane crash, they also did it after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012 and the Boston Marathon bombings in April 2013.

Alastair MacGibbon, the Director of the University of Canberra's Centre for Internet Safety has said that these types of scams are common nowadays, especially after major disasters like the MH17 plane crash. Users are warned to be cautious when visiting such sites that claim to be set up in honor of the victims of tragedies. Not only do users get pestered with annoying ads, their computers could also get infected by harmful malware and computer viruses.

Internet users are also urged to research about these charities that they want to support before clicking on anything or donating money online. Visit the Better Business Bureau (BBB) or the National Association of State Charity Officials (NASCO) to verify if a charity is legitimate. Click HERE to visit the BBB site. Click HERE to visit the NASCO site.

As for the newest information about the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 crash, according to the company's Media Statement and Information which was posted on its official Web site, the Flight MH17 black boxes will be sent to the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch in Farnborough, UK

for forensic analysis. For more updates about the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 plane crash, keep reading the International Business Times (IBT). Check out other news on IBT as well, such as technology, finance, health, business and sports news.