Nude celebrity profiles warning

Fake profiles on social-networking site LinkedIn that promise pictures and videos of naked celebrities are actually traps set by cybercriminals.

By offering to show you nude pictures of celebrities such as Paris Hilton, Jaime Pressly and Christina Aguilera, the criminals hope to get you to click on links that lead to sites hosting malware.

Security firm Trend Micro spotted the fake profiles earlier this week. Another security firm, Sophos, was shocked that it had been possible for the cybercriminals to create the profiles.

"It's a shame that LinkedIn aren’t keeping a closer eye on obviously bogus profiles being created on their site," Graham Cluley of Sophos said.

A LinkedIn spokeswoman said in a statement: "We take these matters very seriously and remove these kinds of inappropriate profiles.

"In addition, we are continually adding new technologies and security protocols to prevent this type of abuse," the statement continued.

Promising images and videos of celebrities such as Britney Spears and Angelina Jolie naked has been a favourite tactic of cybercriminals in the past.

www.linkedin.com
www.trendmicro.com
www.sophos.com