Scam Message:
Perfect Way to find who all are crawling my photos->
Scam Type: Browser Exploit, Profile Viewer
Trending: December 2012
Why it’s a Scam:
Clicking the scam link takes you to the following landing page:
When you click the “Get Your Activation Code” button you are basically creating a login token for your Facebook account as shown below:
Thankfully, this generated token comes with a security warning. The text in the photo is small, but it reads:
SECURITY WARNING: Please treat the URL above as you would your password and do not share it with anyone
Hopefully, people will heed this warning and not proceed with the scam. If the code is copied and pasted per the scammer’s instructions, then they will be spamming their friends with the very same scam. We decided to stop here and advise that you do the same. We have seen these browser exploit Facebook scams used to peddle malware, survey scams and links spam sites.
Never, ever copy and past code generated from a website into your browser. Doing so bypasses basic security protocols designed to protect you from malicious developers like this.
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?
We recommend that users install 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 copying and pasting the code, then you could be spamming the 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). Also check your Activity Log to see if your account was used to post spam links in Groups and Pages your follow
Be sure to check out our post on How to Protect Your Facebook Account From Tag-jacking Scams.
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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