12 Famous Celebrities Who Are Dangerous To Search Online
Watch with caution when searching for your favorite celebrities online!
Searching a celebrity name can feel harmless, like you are just killing time between lunch and scrolling. Then the internet starts doing that thing where curiosity turns into a trap, and suddenly you are one click away from malware instead of a fun fact.
This started popping up around familiar faces, from Jackie Chan rumors about Rush Hour 4 and a Karate Kid sequel that cybercriminals used for nostalgia bait, to Rihanna’s “no sex tape” situation where scammers still tried to lure people anyway. It gets messier fast, with hacked Barack Obama campaign posts pointing to malware links, Amy Schumer keywords quietly boosting the odds of getting funneled to infected sites, and late-night names like James Corden and Jimmy Fallon being tied to suspect clicks.
1. There were rumors about martial artist Jackie Chan’s involvement in Rush Hour 4 and a Karate Kid sequel quickly spread in 2019
Despite Chan’s representatives taking down the claims, cybercriminals took advantage of the adoration and nostalgia to see Chan return to his favored roles.
jackiechan2. Rihanna - Bad Gal Riri has continuously been used as bait to lure curious types to her sex tape
And there was no sex tape. And, that’s why Rihanna has been clapping back against sexism.
rihannaofficilal3. Barack Obama
In 2009, during a presidential campaign, Obama’s official account was attacked by hackers, releasing a tweet, “What is your opinion on Barack Obama? Take the survey and possibly win $500 in free gas,” and associated with a malware link.
Chip Somodevilla/ Getty Images
4. Specific terms related to Amy Schumer had a higher chance of pulling down vulnerable devices
It was a 33 percent chance of being funneled to malicious websites.
amyschumer
5. The singer Billie Eilish was a terrible year in 2020 when her name generated viruses and malware
billieeilish
6. The name of the late-night host, James Corden was associated with suspect links. Anyway, at least he warned people to avoid clicking on dangerous links.
j_corden
7. Although Jimmy Fallon became the king of late-night TV, he happily married a normal wife.
jimmyfallon
And just like the sparks-and-flames incident at Amazon’s UAE data center, searching can turn dangerous fast.
8. Britney Spears
People considered whether they should comment on Spear’s Instagram. There was a link hidden in hashtags and other random jargon.
When you clicked on them, a website was shown up to download a fake Firefox Brower plugin. Once you get downloaded, every password and personal detail was monitored by the plugin.
britneyspears
9. It would be worth considering if someone visited the website of Celine Dion
There was a fan photo gallery displaying hockey spam that asked her fans to fill out their personal information and payment details after clicking a link.
celinedion
10. Ellen DeGeneres
Who doesn’t want to score a ticket to be in the audience of “Ellen’s 12 Days of Giveaways”? Scammer took this urge as bait to score access to susceptible computers and cell phones by making fake DeGeneres Facebook pages that stolen videos from DeGeneres’ real social media accounts.
And the comments below that post contained a lot of malware links.
Kevin Winter/ Getty Images
11. Alexis Bledel
Although she is famous for her warm-hearted and lovable roles as la Rory Gilmore, her dark realities on the set of The Handmaid’s Tale take her home because she has become the first target for malicious search results according to the 2019 survey. Still, Bledel was linked with the word “torrent”.
Jon Kopaloff
12. Sophie Turner became a target last few years for viruses and spam
sophieeturner
That Jackie Chan Rush Hour 4 and Karate Kid chatter did not just spread online, it got weaponized by cybercriminals hunting for nostalgia-clickers.
Meanwhile, Rihanna’s fake sex tape bait and Barack Obama’s hacked tweet show how quickly “famous name” turns into a malware delivery system.
Amy Schumer’s higher-risk search terms, Billie Eilish’s 2020 virus surge, and James Corden’s sketchy links all prove the same pattern, different faces, same trap.
Then Britney Spears’s hidden-download plugin and Ellen DeGeneres’s “12 Days of Giveaways” audience bait bring the whole thing home, one click and your data can be next.
The world is becoming more and more advanced, which means that these hackers are improving their ways of scamming people. So you ought to be careful so you don't fall victim.
Online scams are everywhere -- in our inboxes, on social media, on classified websites, and even in our search engine results. They can take many forms, from scams that promise something for nothing to phishing emails that ask for sensitive information.
No matter where you go online, it’s important to be aware that scams exist and to be vigilant about protecting yourself. Leave your thoughts about this post in the comments and share this post to enlighten others as well.
Nobody wants their search history to turn into a scammer’s shopping list.
