August 17, 2010 by Eddy Philipe
A new scam has been revealed on Facebook, which tricks users in to engaging with a fake ‘dislike’ button on the site. The option to ‘dislike’ something may be appealing, but unfortunately the button is simply a rogue application which tricks people in to allowing access to users profile page, and then takes the opportunity to publish a series of spam messages on to the site.
In addition, the application then attempts to attract people to a survey online, which scammers gain money for, each time it is filled in. the application is one of a number of scams which have attracted people, only for them to be bombarded with spam and illicit messages.
The scam does not actually enable users to download a ‘dislike’ button, and by the time the application gets to this fake stage in the process, users are already being compromised. The application updates user’s pages without permission, and encourages other people to download the fake application.
A spokesperson for security firm Sophos commented: “One thing we commonly see is that the message starts ‘OMG, shocking video’, and they appear to come from your Facebook friend, giving it a ringing endorsement. The ‘dislike’ button is the latest in a series of “survey scams” that include links to a video purporting to show an anaconda vomiting up a hippo. Many people are giving permission for completely unknown apps.”
“The surveys appear to be from genuine companies, and as far as we can tell, they appear to be legitimate. It could be that the firms are not policing their affiliates properly. The add-on also appears to be legitimate. Although Facebook could respond quickly, it should police the development of rogue applications more closely. Anyone can write a Facebook app – these scams are constantly springing up.”
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