Facebook Phising - A Lesson in Security Awareness

Hey People,

Something has happened recently to many of my friends on Facebook, so I thought I'd put out an alert for those in the know. "Phising", or spam sent with the intention of hijacking your personal information(for email, credit cards and address), has reached the realm of Facebook. Luckily, the Facebook Security team is dealing with the issue:

http://www.facebook.com/help.php?page=420

This and other hijacking(what they call the Koobface worm), starts with a hijacker using a friends account and posting on your wall to see a video or go to a site. This site will have requirements in order to see said info that your friend posted(cool video, your picture, or how cool the site is) and have you install software or register. Do Not do this if you run into this, as most have ended up having their Facebook account hijacked, or their computer getting a virus!

If you have not ran into such a situation, please, and I'm being serious, note these things when seeing wall posting.

1. Site has an odd name like "darnwicked" "nutdope" and others.
2. You do not see information on the site. The share link capability is on Facebook so you can know what you're going to see before hand if a friend posts an address. When you get a site that is NOT giving you a website preview, and just plain text, Be wary, and be smart...do a Google search. If it isn't in their search engine, then...
3. Message your friend via non-Internet communication(or, if this is a friend only on Facebook, message him...its ok, I the same thing to a friend this morning). If they don't remember sending it, tell them to change their password to a new one and report that they're account has been hijacked to Facebook.

Under any circumstances, do not go to the site. If you already have, and have not signed up for anything, still, just to be on the cautious side, change your password anyways.

Though you might not think of this as a serious matter, it is. I've gotten a great share of spam from many friends, and just recently it's gotten to close relatives whom I'm linked to on Facebook. So please, combine some common sense with Security Sense...and think before you type that address.

Oh...and also, share with Friends...the more who know about this, the better the Security for all of us!!