Scams are really spreading everywhere. The internet has been the easiest way for these scams. And since majority of the internet users are taking most of their time in social networking sites as Facebook, some cybercriminals took advantage of this situation.
Facebook has been a very popular networking site that has helped build and extend communities around the globe. It has been growing so popularly among the netizens this past few years and with that, some cybercriminals is also thinking of ways how to use the popularity of Facebook to get their dirty jobs done.
And just recently, some reported that a rogue Facebook application was posting spam from users’ accounts saying that “Teacher nearly killed this boy” and thus encouraging users to answer some surveys which will require them to give personal information in order to view the content of a very controversial footage. And there were even new versions of these applications wherein clicking these links will cause the spamming and worming of the users’ account.
See the video (via Sophos)
It seems that Facebook cannot do anything against these cybercriminals since whenever they ban these rogue application these people just create another one. With billions of pieces of content such as videos and the ‘like’ being shared in Facebook every month, preventing this spams isn’t an easy task. There are also some instances that these spammers try to hide their malicious links behind URL shorteners which prevent its users from noticing them.
As Facebook users, we must be very careful especially in viewing links. Do not click on suspicious links if you are not sure if it is safe or not and if comes from someone you do not know. Always remember that you should not give any personal information just to view a certain video content. If you happen to fall to any of these, remove the application immediately from your Facebook account and remove the related status message as well in your wall.
It is also a good thing if you will report to Facebook, when you encounter a spam which can be anything from a friend request sent by someone you don’t know or message that includes a link to a malicious website. This might help Facebook administrator to do something about it and prevent the occurrences of similar cases in the future.
We must be very careful whenever we are using the internet. Even our favorite social networking sites have been a target of these cybercriminals. Don’t just click anything except it comes from a trusted source because you’ll never know if this will get your account or even your computer infected with virus or even stole your personal identity. Always be alert because spammers are just around the corner.
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Tags: facebook fake scandal, facebook scandal virus, facebook shocking video scam, facebook video virus, shocking video virus
That’s great advice, but try getting a message to Facebook. They have an unlisted phone number (unless you’re a journalist — leave a message). All ‘fan’ pages should have a link to report them, but they don’t.
I got burned on one of these. A buddy posted that he’d just gotten a free iPad, click here to get one. They had specific, graphic instructions to press CTRL-C (which copies their javascript exploit) and CTRL-V (which pastes that lengthy code into your browser). It immediately sent emails and postings to everyone in my Facebook account telling them about my “free iPad – you can get one, too!”