I've had an email purportedly from Channel 4 telling me to remove their copyrighted material from my business page on Facebook.
It has a PDF attachment which it says contains details but I'm not going to open it.
I assume it's phishing due to:
a) it comes from an ordinary gmail address - so ordinary the person's full name is right there!
b) if it's on FB why isn't FB coming after me?
Just seeking some reassurance it's a scam.
Channel 4 accusing me of copyright infringement for music video
Re: Channel 4 accusing me of copyright infringement for music video
Hi les,
Based on the details you have given I think you are wise to be cautious, but if it is a scam, it's not one I am aware of.
I would have thought the starting point is to examine you facebook page for anything which might be Channel4 material. Obviously if you are then sure there isn't anything, you can ignore the email. But if you do have some Channel4 material there it might be wise to delete it unless you are confident that one of the fair dealing exceptions applies to it.
I don't think the fact that the email doesn't come from Facebook is particularly significant. If it is genuine then Channel4's beef is with you not Facebook who are exmpt from liability unless they had actual knowledge that the disputed material was there. Again assuming that it is genuine Channel4 may only want the material taken down and don't intend to do anything more about the matter, which is why they have contacted you direct.
But I agree that the dodgy gmail address is suspicious. Even if the request has come from Channel4's lawyers, I would expect the email to come from the firm's business address, not a private one.
Have you tried an online analysis tool for checking the pdf? See here for instance: https://intezer.com/blog/analyze-malicious-pdf-files/
Based on the details you have given I think you are wise to be cautious, but if it is a scam, it's not one I am aware of.
I would have thought the starting point is to examine you facebook page for anything which might be Channel4 material. Obviously if you are then sure there isn't anything, you can ignore the email. But if you do have some Channel4 material there it might be wise to delete it unless you are confident that one of the fair dealing exceptions applies to it.
I don't think the fact that the email doesn't come from Facebook is particularly significant. If it is genuine then Channel4's beef is with you not Facebook who are exmpt from liability unless they had actual knowledge that the disputed material was there. Again assuming that it is genuine Channel4 may only want the material taken down and don't intend to do anything more about the matter, which is why they have contacted you direct.
But I agree that the dodgy gmail address is suspicious. Even if the request has come from Channel4's lawyers, I would expect the email to come from the firm's business address, not a private one.
Have you tried an online analysis tool for checking the pdf? See here for instance: https://intezer.com/blog/analyze-malicious-pdf-files/
Advice or comment provided here is not and does not purport to be legal advice as defined by s.12 of Legal Services Act 2007
Re: Channel 4 accusing me of copyright infringement for music video
When I saw that it came from someone’s personal email there was no way I would click the link.
I did right click it and paste it into a note. It wasn’t a PDF at all, it was a link.
I wonder if I should alert channel 4?
Thanks for the checking tool, I’ll try that.
I did right click it and paste it into a note. It wasn’t a PDF at all, it was a link.
I wonder if I should alert channel 4?
Thanks for the checking tool, I’ll try that.