Tech & Biz

Beware even your closest friends: Facebook phishing scams emerge

by TDH | January 20, 2009 at 04:27 pm

222 views | 31 Recommendations | 3 comments

It really was only a matter of time. In a sort of identity theft fashion, scammers are accessing Facebook accounts and engaging the user's friends. "Techcrunch" has posted the transcript of exactly how such an encounter might look. The disguised scammer approaches the friend and, using information found on both Facebook accounts, the scammer concocts a feasible emergency situation that requires some immediate help. Eventually the friend is asked for some money to help him out.

There’s really nothing Facebook can do about this from a technical standpoint - social engineering is essentially impossible to prevent once an account has been compromised. But an awareness program that emphasizes constant vigilance would be a good step: users need to remember that just because their friend’s smiling face is sitting next to the chat window, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s them.

Two lessons to learn: 1.) Be skeptical of even your friends. Strange requests or unusual language is your first hint; and 2.) Reconsider the information that is on your Facebook account. Concerns about the amount and type of information on one's profile used to be limited to who might be able to view it, but now it seems that even your friends should be of concern.

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Uwe Paschen

at 22:36 on January 20th, 2009

Yes, the Gestapo would have loved to have Facebook and I am certain the CIA and FBI do know to use it and enjoy it.

guvnrDOTcom

at 23:36 on January 20th, 2009

damn ... know I shoulda read the small print ;(

Iffy (not verified)

at 01:02 on January 21st, 2009

Facebook and other social media like it, are products of DARPA (the US defence research labs), and are built under the Echelon programme: total information awareness. All these idiots pumping information into the computers are doing what the government wants. It is a partner programme to go with the Black Widow super-trawler computers which gather all global electronic communications and sniff them for terrorist plots etc.