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Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Do NOT Open 'I got you a surprise' Message on Facebook

Facebook is still one of the most attacked sites on the web. This time hackers decided to make fun of computer users and send fake and malicious messages from the profiles of your friends.

In case you have recently received a message with the following content: "Hello. I got you a surprise" plus a link to a blog on [something].blogspot.com, you should beware that this is scam and highly dangerous.


Several days ago, I got a message like this from a friend whose native language is Lithuanian, rather than English. The first thing that stroke my eye was that why he would write to me in a different language? Isn't that awkward? That's why I decided to go to the link on my test computer rather than use my regular one.

Luckily, I was right and didn't click on the link on my regular PC. After visiting the link, I was redirected to another website which had a totally different address and opened like a blank page with the text "Download photoalbum."

facebook_fake.jpg

Image 2. Redirection to Malicious Website

Being aware that something is suspicious in here, I clicked on the link and an executable file photo.exe was put on my test PC. After clicking on the file, my antivirus software popped a message: "Malware Object Detected."

It looks like the website is spreading Trojan.Waledac through the fake messages. According to VirusTotal, this file is recognized as malicious by 64 % of antivirus software applications (take a look at the table below).

Antivirus Alias Name
AhnLab-V3 Trojan/Win32.ADH
AntiVir TR/Crypt.XDR.Gen
Antiy-AVL Worm/Win32.Koobface
Avast Win32:Rustock-AY
Avast5 Win32:Rustock-AY
AVG Cryptic.BHN
BitDefender MemScan:Trojan.Generic.5154826
Comodo Heur.Suspicious
Emsisoft Spammer!IK
eSafe Win32.TRCrypt.Xdr
F-Secure MemScan:Trojan.Generic.5154826
GData MemScan:Trojan.Generic.5154826
Ikarus Spammer
Jiangmin TrojanDropper.FrauDrop.vm
Kaspersky Trojan-Dropper.Win32.FrauDrop.bkq
McAfee Generic.dx!vcv
McAfee-GW-Edition Artemis!8F8D10FAAABE
Microsoft Spammer:Win32/Fbphotofake.A
NOD32 a variant of Win32/Kryptik.IMG
Norman W32/Obfuscated.A2!genr
nProtect MemScan:Trojan.Generic.5154826
Panda Trj/CI.A
PCTools Trojan.ADH
Symantec Trojan.ADH.2
VBA32 Trojan.Inject.axig
VIPRE Trojan.Win32.Generic.pak!cobra
VirusBuster Trojan.Fbphotofake.C

Table 1. Antivirus Vendors

The file comes with the MD5 signature 8f8d10faaabe124f2b68435a0be182fa and is of 277995 bytes size. Being a new malicious file, photo.exe might cause huge damage to the system.

Thus keep in mind that you should always use the latest version of the antivirus, as well as remember to be suspicious even about messages received from your friends.

source: http://www.pc1news.com/news/1620/do-not-open-i-got-you-a-surprise-message-on-facebook.html

'I got you a surprise' Facebook Message [MALWARE WARNING]

Scam Signature Message:
'I got you a surprise' or
  • Hello!
    I got u a surprise www.gutosiafyhaduro.blogspot.com (DO NOT CLICK ON THIS LINK IF YOU DONT HAVE A GOOD UPDATED ANTI VIRUS PROGRAM)

facebook_messages
This message will appear in your Facebook message inbox.


Scam Type: Malware - Virus-Trojan.Waledac

Trending: December 2010

Why it's a Scam:

If you click on the link contained in the Facebook message, you are taken to a totally different website with the following prompt:

"Download photoalbum."

If you click on the download link, you are then prompted to download a file called photo.exe. Never download a file with an ".exe" extension unless you are 100% sure of its source and content. "The ".exe" extension contains an executable program, and if malicious, can wreck havoc on your system.

Malware researchers discovered that the photo.exe file is a Trojan virus called Trojan.Waledac.

How to Deal with the Scam:

If you did make the mistake of downloading and installing the photo.exec file, then you should install and update your system with anit-virus software. You then need to perform a complete system scan of your machine.

source: http://facecrooks.com/Safety-Center/Scam-Watch/I-got-you-a-surprise-Facebook-Message.html

Monday, July 25, 2011

How to Delete a Facebook Page

Posted on by Laura Christianson

If you create an Official Facebook Page (also called a Business Page, Fan Page, or Page) and decide you want to delete it, here’s how:

  1. Log in to your Facebook account.
  2. Go to your Page. You can get there by selecting “Account” (upper righthand corner) and then clicking “Use Facebook as Page.” A list of all the Pages you administer will pop up. Click the link of the page you want to delete.
  3. Once you’re at your page, click “Edit Page” (upper righthand corner).
  4. Click “Manage Permissions” (from the lefthand sidebar).
  5. Under “Delete Page,” click “Permanently delete this Page.”

A new menu will open with the following prompt:

Deleting a Page is permanent.

Once you delete a Page, you will not be able to get it back.

Are you sure you want to delete [name of your page]?

6. Click either “Delete” or “Cancel.”

source:http://www.bloggingbistro.com/how-to-delete-a-facebook-page/

Make a custom iframe tab in one step

Step 1: Add Static HTML to your page

Click the button to get your tab:

Add Static HTML to a Page


You now have an iframe tab. Cool!

To edit your tab, go to the "Welcome" tab on your page and you'll see the editor. You are free to use any HTML, CSS, JavaScript, etc. in your tab. No restrictions.


About Static HTML

We are the largest provider of custom tabs on Facebook. Hundreds of thousands of pages rely on us. We deliver millions of pageviews a day.

Static HTML has always been, and will always be, completely whitelabel.




source: http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=190322544333196

Customize facebook fan page by static fbml app

static_fbml Sometimes you may need to customize your facebook fan page. Then

what will you do ?






Possible solutions:

  1. To develop a customize application for this purpose
  2. If there are any such application for this purpose then will use it (free)

When will you develop your customize application for facebook page?
If you need to use any scripting language like php, asp, jsp. You may need to call some facebook api then you should choose this solution. Click here to see how to develop customize facebook application for fan page

Is there any such app for this purpose if i don’t need to use scripting language like php, jsp?
Yeah, there is a nice app developed by Facebook called Static FBML

static_fbml

Please visit this app. In the figure you’ll see there is an option “Add to my page”. Just click here to add this app in your page. After clicking it you’ll see the pages’ name to those you are admin. Then visit your page and click Edit Page. Here you’ll see one instance of this app


static_fbml2

Now click Edit. You’ll see the following figure:


static_fbml3

Now write a title in the “Box Title” option and in the “FBML part“ write css/html and FBML to customize your page tab. After doing that, please click Save Changes.

Now visit your page. In the right side you’ll see a (+) icon like the following figure.
static_fbml4
and in the search availabe tabs: write the title you put as Box Title.

To see sample of fbml code that you want to use in this app, visit my another post and copy/paste the code of that post in this app’s FBML part and check what happens.

Advantage:

  1. no need to buy hosting
  2. all data are stored in facebook database
  3. simple to use
  4. it’s free

Disadvantage:

  1. you couldn’t use scripting language like php/jsp/asp
  2. you couldn’t call facebook api


source: http://thinkdiff.net/facebook/customize-facebook-fan-page-by-static-fbml-app/

Friday, July 15, 2011

8 Legal Things to Know About FaceBook

READING LEGAL ANDREW’S LATEST POST on Facebook has just gotten me worried. He wrote (summarized):

“…have you bothered to read Facebook’s Terms of Service (”TOS”) or Privacy Policy? What legal relationship have you agreed to? Who has access to your data and personal details? I waded through their terms and policies. Here are some things I found.

  1. The terms can change any time…. you’re deemed to accept those changes by continuing to use the site. Even if you didn’t know of the change.
  2. Personal use only. LinkedIn is all about jobs and business. MySpace is full of profiles for companies and products. But Facebook is supposedly only for personal use.
  3. A single, individual user account…. you can’t have two accounts on Facebook.
  4. You’re giving up a HUGE license… did you know that posting content gives Facebook a license to do whatever they want with your content?
  5. Applications are NOT guaranteed safe… “installer beware.” A malicious application developer could break through Facebook’s security protocols and expose your info… but Facebook wouldn’t have to take the blame.
  6. Disputes are arbitrated under Delaware law. You’ve agreed to “final and binding arbitration” for resolving most disputes with Facebook.
  7. You surrender all submissions. If you send it to them, it becomes their property.
  8. Privacy is NOT guaranteed. Besides, Facebook’s own third-party contractors might misuse your information.
source: http://www.clappingtrees.com/archives/2007/08/8-legal-things-to-know-about-facebook/

7 reasons to use Facebook

I’M RELUCTANT TO ADMIT THIS, but it’s true: I love to hang out in Facebook nowadays. I’m normally inactive on social networking sites, and I’ve quitted social networks when many strangers tried to add me as friends. However, I enjoy using Facebook and I’m fascinated by it for at least seven reasons:
  1. Business. When Facebook crossed the 100 million member mark last year, I began to explore and experiment with its features (wall, notes, links, photos, tagging, videos, events, groups, pages, etc.) and numerous third-party apps, with the intention of teaching them during my Web 2.0 workshops at NTU’s Center for Continuing Education.

    As Mari Simith of WhyFacebook.com put it, it’s a great place for promoting business: “Meet your peers. Find business contacts. Instant gate opener. Build relationships. Raise visibility. Develop your personal brand. Target your niche. Get rapid top Google placement. Place targeted ads. No cost marketing.” (See also: Tom Lindstrom’s Myspace Marketing Tips.)
  2. Ease of Use. Its interface is clean and uncluttered. If you know how to use Windows, you would know how to use Facebook. All you need is time (or a quick overview session) to discover its numerous features and third-party apps.
  3. Usefulness. Facebook interfaces seamlessly with hundreds (or thousands?) of useful third-party apps. These include popular Web 2.0 apps such as Twitter, Slideshare, Digg, Delicious, and Skype. My current favorite is the Philosophers + Philosophy app developed by Dr John Abbate from the University of Melbourne. It’s a marvellous way to add my favorite quotes and to discover the ideas of a new philosopher everyday.
  4. Lost Contacts. I found long-lost friends/colleagues (and they found me) through the “People You May Know” tool.
  5. New Contacts. I’ve been connecting online with very interesting people from all over the world. For example, my new online friend today is a Spanish priest in Russia!

    Fr Otets Burgos with the Bishop of Moscow and two children.

  6. Visibility & Transparency. What I say and do online are visible to my contacts. Likewise, what they say and do online are visible to me. What this means is I can easily introduce ideas/sites/other things to them and vice versa. This means we can co-discover (learn) about one another as well as many many ideas, sites and other things!
  7. Social Mission. I can easily create a Group, Page or Cause to get support for ideas that I strongly believe in, e.g. “Faith without reason is blind. Reason without faith is lame.” (See the Faith & Reason (Fides et Ratio) cause.) I can also contribute to causes that others believe in, e.g. Beth’s Birthday cause.


source:http://www.clappingtrees.com/archives/2009/01/7-reasons-to-use-facebook/

13 reasons your Facebook account will be disabled

ACCORDING TO THOR MULLER, there are 13 things that (supposedly) will get you kicked off Facebook (thanks, Jean :) ) :
  1. You didn’t use your real name. Facebook will find you and spit you out.
  2. You joined too many groups. (The maximum limit is 200 groups per user.)
  3. You posted too many messages on a wall or in a group. E.g. Guy Kawasaki had his account disabled–in his case for “excessive evangelism.”
  4. You posted in too many groups, too many user’s walls. (That’s what spammers do, silly.)
  5. You friended too many people. (Not so long ago this was a prime cause of disabled accounts, but Facebook has instituted a maximum of 5000 friends that should protect you from yourself.)
  6. Your school/organization affiliation is doubtful.
  7. You’re poking too many people. (Beware the odd FB app that pokes on your behalf.)
  8. You advertised your app on wall posts.
  9. You used duplicate text in multiple messages.
  10. You are a cow, dog, or library.
  11. You are under 18 years old and not part of a High School group.
  12. You wrote offensive content.
  13. You scraped information off Facebook. E.g. Facebook bots disabled Robert Scoble’s account.


ACCORDING TO MARI SMITH, here are more possible reasons your account may be deactivated:

  1. You send “too many” friend requests in one day/session.
  2. You make “too many” wall posts in one day/session – especially with verbatim content and with links.
  3. You copy and paste the same friend request message “too many” times.
  4. You send too many identical emails to individual friends and/or friend lists*.
  5. You message your Group members “too many” times.
  6. You message your Event invitees “too many” times.

.
Recommended action steps:

  1. Take your time to build up a strategic network of friends on Facebook. Focus on quality, not quantity.
  2. Send no more than approximately 20 new friend requests at any one time. Also, be sure to mix up the friend request messages.
  3. Use your own opt-in email system.
  4. Build out your Facebook Page.
  5. Include Facebook in your overall marketing strategy. Don’t put all your social networking “eggs” in one basket. Build up a following on Twitter, FriendFeed, Plaxo, LinkedIn, etc.
  6. Remember there was life before Facebook

    source: http://www.clappingtrees.com/archives/2009/06/13-reasons-your-facebook-account-will-be-disabled/

7 Things to Turn Off in Facebook

DO YOU KNOW THAT the default friend feed settings on Facebook is “full on stalker mode”? Are you sick of receiving invitations, gifts, pokes, etc. from other people (especially complete strangers)? See Happy Slip’s Facebook Fever parody below:
Do you know that you can turn some (if not all) the notifications off? And that you can also change your privacy settings?

THERE ARE SEVEN THINGS that users like you and I can turn off (or on again) in Facebook:

  1. Privacy > Profile: Control who can see your profile and personal information.
  2. Privacy > Search: Control who can search for you, and how you can be contacted.
  3. Privacy > News Feed and Wall: Control what stories about you get published to your profile and to your friends’ News Feeds.
  4. Privacy > Block People: Block specific people (e.g. stalkers) from being able to find you ina Facebook search, see your profile, or interact with you through Facebook channels.
  5. Privacy > General Settings for Applications: Control what information is available to applications you use on Facebook.
  6. Wall Settings for an Application (e.g. Groups): Allow or disallow an app to publish stories automatically on your wall.
  7. Profile Settings for an Application (e.g. Groups): Allow only certain people to view specific groups you join on your profile.

Which ones do you turn on/off? What do you think are the pros and cons of turning on/off these settings?

source: http://www.clappingtrees.com/archives/2009/01/7-things-to-turn-off-in-facebook/

Facebook Hoax Spreading Like Wildfire

Unfortunately, some people take advantage of hacking frenzies like the ones we’ve been facing, to create hoax threats and scares because they know that contextual cues will help the hoax be believable.


It doesn’t help that the media preys on fear of its viewers, because fear sells. People innately seek to be fearful of something because it has been beneficial to the survival of our ancestors, and thus, we carry the same trait.

A viral message has been circulating all over Facebook that reads:

NEW VIRUS ON FB using YOUR pictures. It says you’ve been tagged in a picture, wants you to click on a link to see it. Then hacks into YOUR computer & ALL YOUR ACCOUNTS including BANKING & other secure accounts. It DESTROYS YOUR COMPUTER. Once hacked into your comp; it sends e-mails to your friends telling them they have been TAGGED in pics & starts the process again. PLEASE RE-POST

This hoax was likely made by someone who knew it would “sell.” Now, there are legitimate malware such as “likejacking schemes” that show up as videos on your wall of your friends who have supposedly liked them. When the victim then goes to play the video, the script automatically posts on your wall that you liked said video while the victim is redirected to a survey. Your best bet is to download an add-on called “noscript” if you are using Firefox or open the window in Incognito mode on Google Chrome. Or heck, just be more suspicious of what you see on the Internet. Share this article with your friends and let them know the real deal behind this hoax. Hit us up on facebook.com/techmento and let us know if you’ve seen this hoax.
sadas Facebook Hoax Spreading Like Wildfire

Google Plus Scam Spreading Via Fake Invites

google plus 011 300x300 Google Plus Scam Spreading Via Fake Invitesgoogle plus 02 300x300 Google Plus Scam Spreading Via Fake InvitesGoogle Plus is still in the trial phase and participation is by invite only at the moment. The invites are rare, which has led to people begging on sites such as Twitter for someone to send them an invite. This has played straight into the criminals’ hands.

The fake invites to join Google Plus look very like the genuine invitations, clicking on the links in the email will take the victim to Canadian Family Pharmacy, not Google Plus.

The fake invites are spreading through e-mail, and they look very similar to the actual invites to the service, down to the e-mail address which seems to be coming from a Google Plus member.

Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at security company Sophos said that,”The spammers are no doubt hoping that the email will be hard to resist, as many people are eager to see what is being billed as Google’s answer to Facebook.”

It’s not the first time Google launches a new product and the hackers take advantage of this situation. When Google Music was revealed, malevolent people came up with fake invites in order to lure unaware internet users to malicious websites.

Scams such as this one are very common with major product launches; most recently, we’ve seen a similar phishing scheme involving Google Music invites. Whenever you receive an “invite” to a service, especially from a third party, be extra careful before clicking any links and make sure that the invite is really coming from a legitimate source.

source:http://techmento.com/2011/07/04/google-plus-scam-spreading-via-fake-invites/

Beware, New Facebook ‘Casey Anthony’ Scam

casey hoax 01 300x300 Beware, New Facebook Casey Anthony Scamcasey hoax 02 300x300 Beware, New Facebook Casey Anthony ScamWatch out Facebook users! It looks like we have another Facebook scam. This time it’s about Casey Anthony.


If you’ve recently come across a video entitled “Breaking News – Leaked video of Casey Anthony CONFESSING”, do not get carried away and click it-it’s a complete hoax.

This new Facebook scam makes it obvious why the social network is such a productive ground for scammers to mark.

Weeks back Casey Anthony was found, not guilty for murdering her 2 year old daughter.

Technology experts say the link takes you to a fake video streaming site similar to Youtube and thus tricks you into a survey, that pays scammers money for each additional survey that is completed.

After completing the survey, you are redirected to a TV report which Casey Anthony not being guilty of murdering her two-years-old-child.

Actually clicking on the link shares it on your news feed and thus it starts circulating among your friends and many more Facebook users.


It’s not malware that can directly harm your computer but it is kind of annoying and would irritate Facebook users.

So if you get hit by it, don’t panic. The simple recommended steps are: remove the entry from your news feed and make sure that your profile does not have any unwanted ‘likes’ under your ‘likes and interests’, and you are good to go.

source:http://techmento.com/2011/07/12/facebook-scam/

Facebook Scam: Photographer Committed Suicide After Shooting Video

facebook viral scam 01 300x300 Facebook Scam: Photographer Committed Suicide After Shooting Videofacebook viral scam 02 300x300 Facebook Scam: Photographer Committed Suicide After Shooting VideoIf you use Facebook, you might already be aware of the new scam going around that attempts to get you to click through it. The ad reads something like “Photographer committed SUICIDE 3 days after shooting THIS video!” and is followed by a link.

Of course, you can guess where the link leads to- a message that says “This really must have been an awkward moment” followed by a Share link that is written in the Finnish language.

The victim is then asked to input his or her age, supposedly to determine if the person is old enough to see the video, but is then redirected to a survey where the scammer gets money for each survey that is completed.

Best thing to do when you see this on Facebook is to report it to Facebook security and then check your own wall to see if it automatically posted to your wall, this way you can delete it.

The whole process of creating a scam like this is called social engineering. The prime goal of social engineering is to create a scam or a link that intrigues people or makes them want to click. This is how malware is distributed, surveys are filled, etc. The process isn’t new, and it’s been around even ten years ago when you’d get a pop up saying “You’ve won 1 million dollars. Click here to claim your prize!

source:http://techmento.com/2011/06/27/facebook-scam-photographer-committed-suicide-shooting-video/

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Protecting Your Facebook Account from Scams and Viruses.

by Jeremy Blanton on May 2, 2011

Have you ever received a popup message like the one to the right? Yeah, if you keep your chat box open I am sure you have. Yesterday I received 5 of them all within a 3 minute time period. I had turned away from my screen to watch some of a baseball game and when I came back my screen was filled with the spam messages.

Protecting your Facebook Account from virusesSo, here’s the real question: Can you really spy on who is viewing your Facebook profile? In very simple terms let me give you an answer. NO!

So what happens when I click on those links to see who is viewing my profile on Facebook?

Answer is pretty simple. Most of them make you go to a Facebook connect page of some sort. When you allow the application permission you basically open up your entire world inside Facebook to the program. They normally take that information and go on to phish all your friends and see how many they can get. There are a few instances where it will open up your inbox and send out phishing scams to your email contacts as well. Once these get access there is no telling what the predators might do with the information.

How to Prevent Facebook Phishing Scams

It’s actually a pretty simple thing that needs to be done to prevent these scams from infecting your accounts and possibly your computer. Simply do not add any applications on Facebook that seem shady. Also, I will let you in on a little secret. There are not real programs that allow you to see who’s viewing your profile. Also, when you see the ones that say “OMG! What were you doing in this picture!” don’t click on them. Simply delete the post from your wall and email the person it came from to notify them that they have been scammed. Another newer scam I’ve seen on Facebook are ones with photos of an older man saying this is what I’ll look like in 20 years, check your self. I knew this one was a scam when I got 7 of them posted to my wall in under 10 minutes. Four of them were from females.

The best rule of thumb is to just leave these things alone. Besides, does it really matter who views your profile? Facebook gives you filters and security settings to protect your info from those you don’t want seeing it.

How to fix your Facebook Profile if it has been infected.

If you have have clicked on one of these scams by mistake, do not fear. Normally you can fix them by doing a few simple things:

  1. Change your password- A lot of these programs can only access your account by using your password. If you change it, they are finished.
  2. Remove unwanted Facebook Applications- This one is a little more tricky, but my friend Mike Mueller gives shows you how to kill a bad Facebook App.

I hope this helps and remember, if the app is not from a trusted source, don’t allow it permission. If a link comes through that looks weird, don’t click it!

source:http://210consulting.com/2011/05/02/see-who-views-your-profile-on-facebook

Beware of viruses and scams on Facebook

Beware of viruses and scams on Facebook

Posted by keeptalkinggreece in Tech

Facebook seems to fall often victim of malicious viruses that can infect your computer and scammers that can affect your wallets. So, read carefully and be suspicious of unusual messages that seem to have been sent apparently by your friends.

The latest virus apparenty making the rounds in Facebook is a message sent to your inbox saying “Youe n ass got filmefd as qell” and invite you to follow and lick links. Do not reply!

Over last weekend, a Koobface-like attack surfaced on Facebook, infecting users by tricking them into clicking to view a photograph.

“Unlike the majority of Facebook scams we report, this one actively infects your computer with malware instead of simply tricking you into taking surveys and passing on messages to other users,” said Chester Wisniewski, senior security advisor at Sophos. Facebook has since removed the malicious application.

Another outbreak of mass gullibility also affected Facebook users over the weekend, as scammers attempted to lure people into viewing a video alleging that the killer of hip-hop star Tupac Shakur was Suge Knight,the owner of Tupac Shakur’s record label, Death Row Records. To get to the news, however, readers needed to “complete a 30-second test below to prove you are human.”

Cluley said that “this is where the scammers make their money. Every time someone fills in an online survey, they make a little bit of commission. If they can find an attractive enough lure — like a video ‘proving’ who killed Tupac Shakur — they can potentially bring lots of people to the surveys.”

Indeed, at least 125,000 people had clicked on fake links relating to the bogus news, which was being circulated by 10 different rogue applications. Cluley said the attack is also being distributed via Twitter postswith direct links to the Facebook applications. Any users that authorized the rogue application would then see the attack posted to their Facebook wall, perpetuating the scam.

(Read Full Story in Information Week )

As every once in a while virus are making the rounds in Facebook, please, beware of unusual messages from your FB friends and never reply to snicky-tricky oddities and scammers.

Do not open messages written in a wrong spelling manner…

source: http://www.keeptalkinggreece.com/2011/01/13/beware-of-viruses-and-scams-on-facebook/

Facebook Marketing – Application Scams and Viruses

Facebook marketing is generally fun! We have a process by which we make sure that our clients get great exposure and connect with the most people and companies possible. That having been said, there are A LOT of application scams and viruses so tread carefully if you are using Facebook for business!

Facebook Marketing Scams and VirusesI admit, I am basically writing this to send to my clients so they know what to click and what not to on the Facebook. Some of you may agree or disagree about the validity of some of my suggestions, if you are unhappy, get your own blog, these are all applications that we have found to be detrimental to the business personas we are trying to achieve online!

DO NOT Play Games On Facebook

Farmville, Mafia Wars and other Facebook games may seem like a super-fun way to while a couple of minutes away during the day. Because they are socially tied in, when you harvest a crop or shoot a bad guy, it shows up on your friends (and clients’) walls. Imagine them, sitting and waiting for a vital email from you and the next thing they see is that got a high score on bejeweled! Now, I am sure that you were playing while you were eating lunch or returning calls or any of the million other things that you have to do to stay alive in a day BUT you don’t have to broadcast that to everyone who is connected to you on Facebook! While this is not actually a virus or a scam, I don’t think that gaming has any place on Facebook for a business professional!

Stik Facebook Spam

Stik is a Facebook App that asks for peer recommendations and then wants to spam your friend’s walls with all kinds of useless information. We work with LOTS of Realtors who love to push these kinds of things out but HONESTLY, it is spam and will get you unfriended faster than you can shake a stick! Here is a great post about “Social Media SPAM – Is Stik.com good for your facebook profile?” that says it better than I ever could!

You Are In This Picture Facebook Scams

Any time you get a notification from a friend that says “you look wonderful in this picture” or “OMG, did you see what you did on this video”, step lightly! If they require you to “allow” an app to access your account to see what horrible fate has befallen your image, DO NOT CLICK ALLOW!!! It is a spammer app that will then send that same message to everyone on your friends list.

Check Out Who Visited Your Profile Scams

This is a big one I get almost every day! There is NOT a way to see who has simply typed your name into the search bar to look you up. When you see this message, it means that one of your friends got fooled and a spyware or virus app wants to bother all YOUR friends now too. DO NOT CLICK ALLOW – do you see a theme here people, if you have to click allow to see something, it is one that you DO NOT want to let into your FB world!

Rules Of Thumb For Avoiding Being A Facebook Spammer

The worst part of being fooled into clicking some of these Facebook malware programs is that it makes YOU look like you are a spammer! Whether you intended to or not, you put your friends on the spammers radar by randomly clicking things that you should know better than to click! Here are some good rules of thumb to avoid being taken in:

If it seems to good to be true, it is! Social media is no different than anywhere else. NO ONE is going to give you an iPad for free OR get you 10,000 fans overnight or any of the other wild things out there. Have some common sense and think to yourself, does this make sense?
Generally people are nice on Facebook. Because Facebook has a self monitoring feature of letting people unfriend you if you are a jerk, rarely will anyone send you a message that says someone else posted a picture or a video of you looking like a fool. These types of scare tactics prey on our insecurities but are mostly imaginary. What horrible things you think are happen on FB (almost like High School) mostly aren’t! Just keep track of what you are tagged and posted in and you will be fine (if they want you to hit “allow” to see it first, altogether now, DO NOT CLICK THE LINK!)
If it seems totally self serving, it probably is. Stik is totally PUSH marketing that is telling people that you are in business and they better damn well listen to you. Social media is not like that, it is more around the corner marketing and NO ONE likes having your marketing message on their wall, ESPECIALLY if you can not control where it goes!
General Information About Facebook Scams

Facebooks Official Word On Application Spam – Somewhat Boiler-platey from the horse’s mouth
Rogue Facebook apps steal log-in data, send spam – A really good visual post about how they can even steal your login info!
Facebook Spam Apps Still Alive and Well – As of December over 60,000 people had fallen for the “See Who Visited Your Profile” scam and still it rolls on (REALLY? Why can’t Facebook shut this thing down?!?!?!)
A Detailed Analysis Report about Facebook Spam Applications and How to protect your Facebook Account from those – REALLY good post about how these scams technically work!
I KNOW, there are probably a hundred different privacy settings that you can use to try to avoid these slimey spammers, but at the end of the day, using your common sense will do more to help your Facebook Marketing avoid application scams and viruses than any privacy settings can ever do. Stop clicking random strange things and you should generally be fine!

Article Source: http://marketingartfully.com/2011/05/11/facebook-marketing-application-scams-and-viruses/

Facebook marketing is generally fun! We have a process by which we make sure that our clients get great exposure and connect with the most people and companies possible. That having been said, there are A LOT of application scams and viruses so tread carefully if you are using Facebook for business!

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Shocking Video Scams Spread Virally on Facebook [WARNING]

Several new Facebook scams are making the rounds today, and although they follow the same pattern as many of the recent scams we’ve seen, some users are still falling for them.

The scams work as follows: First, you’ll see an interesting link in other users’ status updates, but when you follow the link, you’ll be asked to fill out a number of surveys, which are nothing more than ploys to extract your personal data.

Today, we’ve seen two very similar scams, both promising a “shocking video” to unsuspecting users. One message that appears in status updates reads: “I am shocked!!! I’m NEVER texting AGAIN since I found this out. Video here: http://bit.ly/c4SDyh – Worldwide scandal!

If you click on the link in the message, it’ll lead you to a rogue Facebook application, which will ask you to fill in a couple of surveys before you can actually see the promised content.

Another message promises a shocking video of a teacher that nearly killed a boy; clicking on the link in the status update will, once again, only force you to jump through hoops and hand over your personal data in the process. Graham Cluley from Sophos does a great job explaining the attack in the video below.

Our advice, as always, is not to click on suspicious links if you’re not absolutely sure they’re safe. Do not give away your personal info. If you’ve fallen for these (or similar) scams, remove the offending app(s) from your Facebook, and remove the related status message from your newsfeed.

source: http://mashable.com/2010/07/28/shocking-video-scam-facebook/