Scammers are tricking people into installing dodgy Chrome themes by claiming they’ll provide free access to pirate films, including the likes of Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War and Rampage.
Who in their right mind would fall for it? Apparently thousands of people.
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The theme claiming to offer Rampage has more than 2000 users, according to TorrentFreak. The one for Black Panther has 1800, another for Ready Player One has more than 1000 and another for Infinity War has more than 900.
They’re all available in the Themes section of the Chrome Web Store.
It’s a strange scam tactic, but it appears to be paying off purely because some internet users are very very gullible, and would do anything for free access to new films. The (not suspicious at all) positive reviews that some of these themes have got from some apparent users probably don’t help.
Once installed, users are taken to a fake pirate website showing what appears to be a video player.
However, clicking the play button redirects visitors to either Zumastar, which asks people to create an account to “access unlimited downloads & streaming”, or EtnaMedia, which appears to be a similarly dodgy subscription site.
Have you ever fallen for a similar type of internet scam? Share your thoughts @TrustedReviews.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.