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Trick follows same pattern as fake 'Justin Bieber trying to flirt' video
Security experts are warning of yet another Facebook scam designed to give a rogue application the ability to access user accounts, this one using the promise of a 'Dislike' button as the lure.
Sophos senior technology consultant Graham Cluley explained in a blog post that the scam is almost identical to the 'world's worst McDonald's customer' campaign that emerged last week, and several others before it including the 'Justin Bieber trying to flirt' video.
Facebook users receive a spammed message from one of their contacts which encourages them to click on the adjacent link in order to get the "official Dislike button". Clicking takes the user to a fake install page, according to Cluley.
"If you do give the app permission to run, it silently updates your Facebook status to promote the link that tricked you in the first place, thus spreading the message virally to your Facebook friends and online contacts," he explained.
"But you still haven't at this point been given a 'Dislike' Facebook button, and the rogue application requires you to complete an online survey (which makes money for the scammers) before ultimately pointing you to a Firefox browser add-on for a Facebook Dislike button developed by FaceMod."
This particular scam is not designed to steal personal information, but giving unknown applications access to an account could lead to a more serious outcome.
Security vendor F-Secure recently published a guide on how to stay safe on Facebook.
Source
Security experts are warning of yet another Facebook scam designed to give a rogue application the ability to access user accounts, this one using the promise of a 'Dislike' button as the lure.
Sophos senior technology consultant Graham Cluley explained in a blog post that the scam is almost identical to the 'world's worst McDonald's customer' campaign that emerged last week, and several others before it including the 'Justin Bieber trying to flirt' video.
Facebook users receive a spammed message from one of their contacts which encourages them to click on the adjacent link in order to get the "official Dislike button". Clicking takes the user to a fake install page, according to Cluley.
"If you do give the app permission to run, it silently updates your Facebook status to promote the link that tricked you in the first place, thus spreading the message virally to your Facebook friends and online contacts," he explained.
"But you still haven't at this point been given a 'Dislike' Facebook button, and the rogue application requires you to complete an online survey (which makes money for the scammers) before ultimately pointing you to a Firefox browser add-on for a Facebook Dislike button developed by FaceMod."
This particular scam is not designed to steal personal information, but giving unknown applications access to an account could lead to a more serious outcome.
Security vendor F-Secure recently published a guide on how to stay safe on Facebook.
Source
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