Posts Tagged ‘Address bar’

Profile Stalkers on Facebook? Check out the viral scam that’s spreading

Published by pratyushkp on May 21st, 2011 - in Social, Technology

Image via CrunchBase

Another scam is being spammed out across Facebook, tricking users into helping its spread by fooling them into believing they will discover who is secretly viewing their profile.

Using a cartoon image of what appears to be a chimpanzee looking through binoculars,
the messages are being sent from other Facebook users who have already fallen into the trap of clicking on the link and following the scammers‘ instructions.

Clicking on the link contained inside the message (which I have obscured in the screen grab below) is a big mistake, as it takes you one step further into the criminals’ trap.

WICKED! Now you can see who views your facebook profile.. i saw my top profile stalkers and my EX is still creeping my profile every day

Checkout your PROFILE stalkers
[LINK]
Now you can see who stalks your profile daily

If you do click on the link you are taken to a third-party webpage which urges you to cut-and-paste some JavaScript code into your web browser‘s address bar. The page claims that it is your unique code to view your Top 10 Profile Spys – but it’s not true at all.

This is a trick being commonly used by scammers at the moment. If you paste their code into your address bar, it will typically pass the message onto other Facebook users – including your online friends. We recently saw it deployed in a Facebook scam offering a “Dislike” button for instance.

Ultimately scams this typically end up with you being taken to a webpage which asks you to complete a survey – and the scammers earn commission for each survey completed.

Don’t let the scammers make a monkey of you, and don’t risk spreading a scam like this to your online friends.

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

 

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Why are you tagged in this video? It’s a viral Facebook scam , Please Avoid

Published by pratyushkp on May 17th, 2011 - in Social, Technology
Image representing Facebook as depicted in Cru...

Image via CrunchBase

Facebook users have been hit by another fast-spreading scam today, pretending to be a link to a YouTube video that they have been tagged in.

Facebook video scam

The scam messages use potential victims’ first names, claiming that they have been tagged in the “Youtube” video.

Phrases used in the attack include:

YO [name] why are you tagged in this video

WTF!! [name] why are you tagged in this video

hey [name] i cant believe youre tagged in this video

hey [name] you look so stupid in this video

omg! [name] why are you tagged in this vid

OMG [name] why are you in this video

Each “video” has a random number of views and likes, but the length of the movie always appears to be 2:34. Eagle-eyed Facebook users might realise something is awry when they see that the links refer to “Youtube” rather than the rather more accurate “YouTube”.

But if you do make the mistake of clicking on the video thumbnail you will be taken to a webpage which tries to trick you into cutting-and-pasting a malicious JavaScript code into your browser’s address bar (this appears to be one of the scammers’ favourite methods of attack at the moment).

You have to concede, it’s a cunning piece of social engineering by the bad guys. Wouldn’t you want to see a video that your Facebook friends say you have been tagged in?

If you’re a regular user of Facebook, make sure you join the Sophos page on Facebook to be kept informed of the latest security threats.

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

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Facebook Dislike button spreads fast, but is a fake – watch out!

Published by pratyushkp on May 16th, 2011 - in Social, Technology
Image representing Facebook as depicted in Cru...

Image via CrunchBase

Don’t be too quick to click on links claiming to “Enable Dislike Button” on Facebook, as a fast-spreading scam has caused problems for social networking users this weekend.

Messages claiming to offer the opposite to a like button have been appearing on many Facebook users’ walls:

Dislike button on Facebook

Facebook now has a dislike button! Click 'Enable Dislike Button' to turn on the new feature!

Like the “Preventing Spam / Verify my account” scam which went before it, the scammers have managed to waltz past Facebook’s security to replace the standard “Share” option with a link labelled “Enable Dislike Button”.

The fact that the “Enable Dislike Button” link does not appear in the main part of the message, but lower down alongside “Link” and “Comment”, is likely to fool some users into believing that it is genuine.

Clicking on the link, however, will not only forward the fake message about the so-called “Fakebook Dislike button” to all of your online friends by posting it to your profile, but also run obfuscated Javascript on your computer.

The potential for malice should be obvious.

As we’ve explained before, there is no official dislike button provided by Facebook and there isn’t ever likely to be. But it remains something that many Facebook users would like, and so scammers have often used the offer of a “Dislike button” as bait for the unwary.

Here’s another example that is spreading, attempting to trick you into pasting JavaScript into your browser’s address bar, before leading you to a survey scam:

Offer of Dislike button leads you into posting script into your browser's address bar

If you use Facebook and want to learn more about spam, malware, scams and other threats, you should join the Sophos Facebook page where we have a thriving community of over 80,000 people.

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

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Facebook Scam: Fake Event Invitation Claims To Show Who Viewed Your Profile

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

Another day, another Facebook profile scam.

This latest con, promising a peek at who has viewed your profile, is spreading via an event invite titled “WOW Now you can see anyone who looks at your profile!”

The invitation includes a link to a page that resembles a Facebook event page. Here, instructions guide you through copying and pasting a piece of javascript into your browser’s address bar, which you definitely don’t want to do.

Clicking the event’s “I’m Attending” button–don’t!–will likely push the scam to your friends’ news feeds.

In addition, an equally unsafe how-to video on getting free Facebook credits is embedded at the bottom of the phony page.

These kinds of Facebook scams surface frequently, sometimes as fake apps, other times as spammy Wall posts or instant messages. As usual, you should be wary of any Facebook event, app or message that promises to reveal who is looking at your profile.

If you’ve accidentally clicked on this invite, we recommend you remove all traces of the event from your news feed and wall, and double check your Facebook app settings.

Source : http://www.huffingtonpost.com

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