Spammers Invade Facebook

We’ve all received the email promising something wonderful like a million dollars. All we need do is click on the link in the email to find out how to get it. Instead the email is the work of a spammer hoping to gather your personal information for their own illegal use. This is called “phishing”. Seems most of us have studied helpful hints and tips on how to protect ourselves from spammers; because they have moved into new territory.

Spamming is quickly becoming a problem on Facebook. Want a free iPad just for filling out a survey? Would you like to see a video of a whale slamming into a building during Japan’s tsunami? If you see these sorts of things on Facebook, BEWARE! Don’t click on any links. These are most certainly spam.

These kinds of attacks have long gone on in email. The attackers have now set their sites on a new target, social media. Facebook has 500 million users and counting. Think they’ll be able to hit this target? You bet! Spammers look at Facebook as a gold mine of untapped riches…your riches. And, you have all your connections on Facebook; so these criminals won’t stop with you. They hope your friends, family members, and co-workers will bite, too.

Spammers make money by driving people to sites that pay them for clicks. Facebook users get tricked into “helping”. Spammers rely on your social media relationships to help them spread the word, so to speak. If you see something on a friends page, do you believe it’s okay? There’s the built in trust factor that spammers count on.

Phishing uses fake messages to get you to sites or pages that can capture your computer. It also is used to trick you into downloading malware onto your computer. Malware is triggered when you click on a button on a scam Web page. Then, it sends your friends messages, directing them to a website that will infect their computer; and so on.

Remember that survey to get a free iPad? If you complete it, you just may be subscribing to the joke of the day for $5.00 each charges to your cell phone. If you watch the whale hitting the building video you probably instantly spammed all your friends and family…all your connections. One internet worm can hijack your Facebook account and send messages to all your friends; then steal their accounts and passwords.

So, what do we do to protect ourselves? Here are some Facebook Security Tips:

Review your security settings and consider enabling login notifications. In the drop-down box under Account on the upper right hand corner of your Facebook home page choose Account Settings, then click on the Notifications tab.

Don’t click on strange links, even if they’re from friends. Notify the person if you see something suspicious. If you come across a scam, report it; so that it can be taken down.

Don’t download any applications you aren’t certain about. Don’t accept friend requests if you don’t know the person. Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Go to Facebook security and read “Take Action” and “Threats” for more information. Portions of this article are from “Spammers fast becoming huge Facebook problem” by Pete Carey of Bay Area News Group.