Scam Message:
Facebook Profile Viewer
Scam Type: Rogue Application, Survey Scam, Profile Viewer
Trending: August 2012
Why it’s a Scam:
Clicking the wall post link takes you to the following anding page:
You are further directed to the traditional app installation screen:
As if the above application permissions weren’t enough, once you proceed the application requests even more access to your Facebook account:
Clicking “Allow” will give the permissions shown above to the scammer. This will allow them to spam their scam messages to all of your friends. Do you really want to let an unknown (scam) developer have this much access to your Facebook information? These scams are known to use multiple Facebook apps to spread virally across Facebook.
Anytime you install a third party Facebook application, you give the application developer access to your personal data. Always be very selective on the apps you install, and only install them from well-known, trusted sources.
Continuing on with the installation redirects you to the following survey scam:
It is important to remember that any Facebook application offering to who you who has viewed or visited your profile is certain to be a scam. Facebook doesn’t allow developers access to the data required to create such apps. Avoid them ALL! In fact, here are Facebook’s own help topics on the subject:
Can I know who’s viewing my profile (timeline) or how often it’s being viewed?
This scam also uses ‘Tag-Jacking’ as a means of spreading from user to user. Check out this post we wrote that helps protect you from scams like this.
We recommend that users insall BitDefender Safego, a Facebook application that will scan your News Feed and help keep you safe from scams like this.
How to Deal with the Scam:
If you did make the mistake of installing the rogue application you are now spamming the very same spam message to your friends. Clean-up your newsfeed and profile to remove references to the scam. (click the “x” in the top right hand corner of the post).
You also need to remove the app from your Facebook account. Click the down triangle->Account Settings->Apps to remove this and other rogue applications.
If you or your Facebook friends are falling for tricks like this, it’s time to get yourself informed of the latest threats. Be sure to join the Facecrooks page on Facebook to be kept informed of the latest security issues.
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