A few months ago we reported on a scam that claimed users needed to “verify their accounts under the SOPA Act” or risk losing those accounts for good. The same scam has reappeared on Facebook and is circulating virally once again.
Of course Facebook users do not need to verify their accounts or risk losing them, and they never will. But it is popular bait for scammers who exploit the threat of potential account termination to panic victims into complying with their demands.
The scam starts when the image to the left appears on the newsfeed of a victim. Upon clicking the link within the email they are taken to a page (image 2) asking them to get a code to paste into a box in order to verify their account. However clicking on the “Get Code” button actually sends the victim to a Facebook application installation page, and it is clear that in order to proceed this unknown application is going to want access to your whole profile and your photos, meaning the application will have permission to post photos from your account as well as tag your friends in them.
If a Facebook user does proceed and installs the application and then pastes the “code” it provides into the second box they are then forwarded to a survey scam which is designed to harvest the personal information of users. Not only that but their Facebook account is automatically posting messages (see image 3) and tagging their friends in them (these photos led to further survey scams).
We’ve said it time and time again – never respond to threats that claim you will lose your account unless you act – whether it be installing applications, completing surveys, forwarding, liking or sharing photos, updating your status or installing unknown software or extensions. Facebook will NEVER ask you to “save your account” like this.
If you did fall for these scam it’s time to clear up your account by removing the spammy application and removing the offending posts it made in your name.
And a tip – installing reliable security software will block a user from visiting many of these dangerous websites in the first place. When we investigated this our editor’s choice security software blocked the site, reporting it as malicious.
