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Rogue Facebook Apps Brazenly Make You Do Their Dirty Work

by Terrence O'Brien on July 8, 2010 at 09:15 AM

Facebook Video Scam
At this point, we've been well-trained not to trust Facebook applications -- and seemingly with good reason, since every week another hack or phishing scam pops up. What makes the two most recent instances special, though, is their brazenness -- hiding in plain sight, and relying on people's gullibility to spread across the social network like wildfire.

First up is yet another mock IQ test app. This one lures you into its trap with a post on a friend's Wall that reads, "I'm never texting again." Clicking on the link embedded in the post leads to a page that instructs you to click on an image, and asks you to give the application access to your Facebook account so that you can watch a "shocking video." Agreeing will launch an IQ testing app that posts the same link on your Facebook profile, and then prompts you to add $10 a month to your cell phone bill for more IQ tests.

Preying on the allure of the forbidden, the second scam is launched from an app claiming that "99% of people can't watch this video for more than 25 seconds." The app prompts visitors to copy and paste a pile of code into their address bar, with the promise of gaining access to this mysterious video. If you're gullible enough to copy some random Javascript code into your address bar, you'll be rewarded by blasting your friends with a link to the same "video" and by having it appear in your status. It's unclear what the ultimate goal of the scam is, but it's highly likely that this one, too, racks up charges on your cell phone. Not only should you be offended that phishers are trying to capture your info, but they have the nerve to do it so lazily.

Check out the video scam in action below, and remember, there's nothing wrong with being a tad paranoid online. Don't click on, copy and paste, or agree to anything unless you're 100-percent positive it's safe. [From: AVG, via: The Guardian]



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Tags: facebook, facebook apps, facebook scams, FacebookApps, FacebookScams, iq test, IqTest, phishing, privacy, scam, security, socialnetworking, top, web

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