SunStar Cebu warned its readers of a phishing scheme on Facebook which used their articles to lure in clicks from readers.

“If you’re one of those tagged by random people with the SunStar story shown in the screenshots, please don’t click on the link or enter your login details, as this is an example of phishing,” SunStar Cebu said in a Facebook post on Monday, May 24.

In this scheme, random Facebook accounts tag up to a hundred users to the post with the phishing link disguised as a SunStar Cebu article.

The posts often bear seemingly personalized captions relating to the article. Instead of being led to a SunStar article, however, users are redirected to a seemingly-empty Facebook login page, which tries to trick users into giving up personal information such as their phone number and Facebook password.

The method is similar to an phishing attack pattern spotted in December 2020. In that instance, a malicious phishing link was tied to UNTV Radyo La Verdad’s name and reputation instead.

SunStar Cebu advised readers to change their passwords if they have fallen victim to the scheme, as well as to report the spam accounts that tagged them in the malicious post.

SunStar Cebu is one of the most widely-read papers in Cebu Province. Their articles can also be accessed online through the paper’s official website. – Rappler.com