Social network protection begins and ends with the user
Sharing information with your friends and acquaintances is easier than ever, but before posting your life and all your contact information on Facebook, ask yourself, is this absolutely necessary? The more information you publish about yourself, the more you have to lose!
Wait… Facebook isn’t protecting my information?!
Facebook acknowledges that with great power comes great responsibility the site makes continuous efforts to deter cybercrimes, but it seems that with technology no crime is completely preventable. However, acknowledging the dangers can lower your risk of becoming a victim.
How big is the Facebook Empire?
Presently, Facebook is reported to have over 800 million active users that spend over 700 billion minutes on the site per month. That means if Facebook was a country it would be the third largest country after China and India.
Should I be on Facebook?
Facebook is a great social tool, but remember as the site progresses so do the criminals looking to make a quick buck from its users.
What types of crime are out there?
Opportunists are creating more shrewd and insightful schemes to manipulate users. Click jacking, phishing or malware planting, for hackers above the law and below human decency, it’s all fair game!
Learn more
We’ve highlighted some of the most widespread crimes being committed on the site and the “scheming” signs to watch out for.
Clickjacking
Think twice before you click on those alluring up to date articles! Notable click jacking subject lines include “Pictures of Osama Bin Laden’s Dead Body” and “Lady Gaga Found Dead in a Hotel Room!” Learn more about a blogger’s click-jacking experience here: http://bit.ly/jRtl4N
Fake Quizzes
If a quiz/poll takes you on an external site that’s a sign red flag that the site is a scam! Additionally, when users participate in fake quizzes they put money in a scammer’s pocket. The most common crime is obtaining users’ phone numbers and making faulty charges on users’ telephone bill.
Phishing Schemes
Phishing is a way to acquire a person’s log in credentials; once a hacker obtains a user’s credentials the possibilities are infinite…
Phony E-mail or Message
Facebook has issued a warning to users to be cautious of phony e-mails signed with either “The Facebook Team” or “Facebook”. To learn more about the latest e-mail cons, read Facebook’s warning to its users
http://www.facebook.com/help?page=1051
Money Transfer Scams
If someone sends you a message asking you for money and they need you to wire it to them, surprise, surprise… it’s a scam! Facebook refers to money scams as the 419 scam, this con normally involves a Facebook friend that says he/she is stuck in a foreign country with no money.
Fake Friend Request
Believe it or not some Facebook accounts are made to hack into other users’ Facebook accounts. Consequently, Facebook’s success is due to the company’s stipulation of having all REAL users. Due to the connections of social tools that can be attached to a person’s Facebook account, a hacker can cause severe damage. To learn more about fake friends, check out Huffington Post’s Tech here: http://huff.to/h35WzF
Fake Page Scam
We’ve all seen a person in our network promoting a product that takes you onto a fake page with endless questions, invitations to events or groups, a free item, or outrageous discounts if you forward the message or display the post as a status update. A majority of times these pages are made as a front for click jacking or phishing schemes.
Rogue Apps
Malicious applications are known to be a common problem on Facebook. These apps appear to be innocent, but in truth they may be concealing a phishing, malware, click jacking or money transfer scheme. A few of these apps can spread to your network of friends.
The Koobface Worm
This so-called “Facebook message” contains a link claiming to be an Adobe Flash Player update. The link is actually malware that will infect the user’s computer, then hijack the Facebook profile and spam all the user’s friends with the malicious link.
For more information on Facebook Crimes, check out our sources or leave your comments and/or questions below!
Sources:
Huffington Post: Facebook Scams You Need To Know About: The 9 Most Common Hacks And Attacks
Fox News: Facebook Crimes on the Rise
BBC News: Warning to Facebook users over personal data
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Facebook Phishers and Schemers
