Jason Allen / Amy Allen virus hoax spreads on Facebook

Published by pratyushkp on May 26th, 2011 - in Social, Technology

Image via CrunchBase

A new virus hoax is spreading on Facebook, shared by well-intentioned users who believe they are warning their friends and family about a threat – but, in reality, are just adding to the noise.

Messages being shared across Facebook warn users not to add as a Facebook friend people called “Jason Allen” or “Amy Allen“.

Here are some of the versions of the chain letter message we have seen:

ATTENTION ALL FACEBOOK USERS;IF SOMEONE WITH THE NAME JASON ALLEN OR AMY ALLEN TRIES TO ADD YOU..DO NOT ACCEPT.IT IS A VIRUS.TELL EVEYBODY BECAUSE IF SOMEONE ON YOUR LIST ADDS THEM YOU WILL GET THE VIRUS TOO.COPY PASTE AND RE-POST THIS.THIS HAS BEEN CONFIRMED BY FACEBOOK SNOPES..

HEADS UP EVERYONE
ATTENTION !!!ATTENTION !!! ATTENTION !!! ATTENTION ALL FACEBOOK USERS**... DO NOT ADD *JASON ALLEN*, ALSO IF SOMEBODY CALLED *AMY ALLEN* ADDS YOU, DON'T ACCEPT... IT IS A VIRUS. TELL EVERYBODY, BECAUSE IF SOMEBODY ON YOUR LIST ADDS THEM, YOU GET THE VIRUS TOO. **COPY AND PASTE AND PLEASE RE POST* THIS HAS BEEN CONFIRMED BY FACEBOOK AND SNOPES

The truth is that this is a hoax. You’re not really doing others a favour at all if you post or forward the warning to other Facebook users. It’s just the latest example of the many hoaxes we have seen spreading over the internet for some years. Just last month we saw a very similar virus hoax spreading on Facebook, but using the names Jason Lee and Linda Smith rather than Jason and Amy Allen.

If you think about it, a warning about Facebook users called “Amy Allen” and “Jason Allen” isn’t actually that helpful. After all, just imagine how many people have names like that! And if users called that weren’t up to no good, and saw the warning being spread about them, wouldn’t they just change their online names?

Furthermore, according to the warning, Facebook is said to have confirmed the threat. If that’s true, then precisely where has Facebook confirmed it? Why is there no link in the warning where people can discover more about the threat?

Remember to always get your computer security advice from a computer security company. Friends may be well-intentioned in passing on warnings, but it’s always good to check your facts before forwarding them any further.

Source :-http://nakedsecurity.sophos.com

  • Visit the New Facebook? Hacker warning spreads like wildfire on social network (blogoholic.in)
  • Jason Allen / Amy Allen virus hoax spreads on Facebook (nakedsecurity.sophos.com)
  • Linda Smith / Jason Lee Facebook virus hoax spreads quickly (nakedsecurity.sophos.com)
  • Amy Adams & Jason Segel: ‘Muppets’ Trailer! (justjared.buzznet.com)
  • GivingCity Austin Issue #6 January 2011 (givingcityaustin.wordpress.com)
  • “Charlie Sheen dead? Nope, it is a hoax spread by Facebook and Twitter virus” and related posts (etechreviews.net)
  • It Was Nothing But A Hoax?! (terri0729.wordpress.com)
  • The TRUTH About The Koobface/Knob Face Worm (heartchasms.wordpress.com)




6 Responses

  1. [...] Jason Allen / Amy Allen virus hoax spreads on Facebook (blogoholic.in) [...]

  2. fresh water says:

    I’ve recently been hunting for exactly this information. While I was wanting to uncover this article I’m really surprised that your particular article was so easy to find and ways in which it beautifully in comparison to my own , personal experience.

  3. blog about water says:

    I’ve recently been hunting for exactly this article. Despite the fact that I was expecting to find this article I am definitely surprised that your article was so easy to find and the way it perfectly in comparison to my own , personal experience.

  4. MRSA infection says:

    You couldn’t enter into extreme depth, nevertheless, you offered components I want to to get help me through. I’d been baffled and this write-up cut through the regular idea that only display lacking content. You should carry on the research.

  5. MRSA treatments says:

    I’ve been trying to find this data and finally found this comments. Your article notified me to thinking that I had previous skipped. Not having this details I could hardly come to a decision.

  6. [...] Jason Allen / Amy Allen virus hoax spreads on Facebook (blogoholic.in) [...]

Leave a Reply to MRSA infection Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

You may use these HTML tags and attributes:

© Social Media Blog