I have been contacted by the internet security company AVG who have warned Facebook users to be wary of a new scam doing the rounds that pretends to tell you who is looking at you on the social network.
According to chief research officer, Roger Thompson, the scam makes Facebook users believe that there is a new fool-proof way of knowing who is viewing their profile.
Unsuspecting users clicking on malicious sites first of all encounter a screen which displays a message along the lines of “”OMG OMG OMG… I can’t believe this actually works! Now you really can see who views your profile!!! WOAH –> hxxp://spy.facebooktricks.info//”
The pitch screen then says “See who viewed your profile!!”
If tempted, you have to ‘like’ a few things, post the “OMG” message 5x on Facebook, and then there is the promise of the unlocked app.
“You may be shocked by this, but you never do get to see the app that shows you who viewed your profile” says Roger Thompson. “Instead you are asked to participate in large numbers of surveys, and finally they ask you to agree to a $19.99 charge to your cellphone each month.
“Though the messages are fairly crude, they are potentially appealing given both the publicity Facebook privacy issues have received, as well as the simple human curiosity factor of wanting to know is checking you out.”
“I bet they catch a lot of kids whose parents don’t notice the extra $10 or $20 each.”
As part of Roger Thompson’s role, he manages a team of security researchers trawling the web for the latest scams. You can read his blog on the subject at – http://thompson.blog.avg.com/2010/07/and-still-more-facebook-nonsense.html
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