Facebook scam: how not to fall for it
Scammers use a victim’s friends list to trick them into clicking on virus-ridden links. Tip: don’t click on anything suspicious
We all know that the best way to avoid being hacked is to be vigilant when clicking on links. But there are times when your defences are down and you click on something without thinking. Instant regret.
This happened to me when I got sucked into a scam that’s been sweeping social-media networks over the past few months. In a nutshell, it causes the user to send hoax messages to their friends that look something like this: “[user’s name] video” followed by a shocked emoji with a message “Is this yours?” or “It’s you [user’s name]!”
Along with the message comes a virus-ridden link that, if clicked on, is forwarded to the user’s friend list (in my case, about 10 people), and friends are then directed to different malicious sites depending on which browsers they are using.
My immediate reaction was panic, because you have no idea what’s been compromised and the fear of the unknown sends the mind to dark places … places called identity theft. Is my PC infected? Have bank accounts been accessed? Is my credit card on its way to Maxedoutville at an Apple store or, worse still, has someone signed me up for a nudist retreat in Germany? Arghhh. Must stay calm.
