Social Media sites like Facebook and LinkedIn are more and more often becoming natural extensions of a businesses marketing and customer retention system. But just because you are on a ’social’ site doesn’t mean you can let down your guard!
Secret details about Michael Jackson’s death!
Salacious details about celebrities is an instant tip off that something is up. These messages normally trick you into clicking a link that promises to divulge secret details, never heard before songs, nude pictures, etc.
When in fact these links prompt you to download and install an update of Adobe Flash but instead of a software update you are downloading a Trojan or malware which secretly installs on your computer.
I’m trapped in Paris! Please send money.
In this scam, the perpetrators use a compromised account (ex: they have someone’s login and password) to send out pleas for help, normally asking for money to be wired to help out a friend. Since the criminals have access to your friends account they can often include details only your friend would know, ex: family members, etc.
OMG! Did you see this picture of you?
This scam directs users to a fake login screen that look just like the Facebook login screen and tricks the users into entering their user name and password.
The fake login screen is a favorite of the scammer because they use your credentials to launch other attacks. This scam may also start with an email directing you to update your Facebook information, etc.
Always check the navigation bar in your browser to be sure you are at the site you think you are at before entering your credentials, ex: it should say facebook.com at the very start of the url.
Test your IQ
One of the more recent scams enticed users to participate in an IQ test and prompted the unsuspecting users for their cell phone number to get the results. In actuality, they were subscribing to a $30 / month text messaging service.
This scam made use of a Facebook application. Many of the games and trivia on Facebook make use of this feature. In order to use the application you must grant it access to information in your profile. Setting privacy and security aside, many of these applications download viruses and malware onto your computer and should be avoided.
UPDATE
On August 16th, 2010 my follow-on post to this one details the latest scam; the fake dislike button. Add this latest scam as an update to this list of 5! Check out this post here; http://www.technologyassociates.net/facebook-dislike-button-scam/
Good Networking!
Eric Hobbs
Technology Associates
ehobbs@technologyassociates.net
919-459-0109 – Direct
Things to Think About…
- Social Sites can become very unsociable Remember that wherever people go, the scammers will follow! Just because a site is supposed to connect you with a social network doesn’t mean it is safe!
- When in doubt… If you are using social media for business then I am not sure when you have time to find out more about Michael Jackson or take an IQ test; in any case, when in doubt, avoid clicking on messages and links that are suspicious.
