Many Facebook users have contacted the Naked Security team this weekend, reporting that they have fallen victim to a fast-spreading scam that claims you can find out who is stalking you on Facebook and viewing your profile.
Judging by the number of messages posted on the site, the scam spread hard and fast affecting many users. And although Facebook’s security team appears to have been mopping up the mess, and removing the rogue applications and messages, there’s always the chance that it will resurge in a slight different form before too long.
One of the most commonly seen scam messages read:
I just saw who STALKS me on Facebook! You can see who creeps around your profile too! [LINK]
Clicking on the link would take you to a rogue application, that claimed it would tell you who was viewing your Facebook page.
If you approved the subsequent request for the application to be able to access your profile, your own Facebook account would publish the scam link, passing it virally onto your Facebook friends.
The purpose of the scam and the reason why the bad guys wanted it to spam out so quickly? Every user is requested to fill in a survey, which generates money for the scammers behind the scheme.
So, here’s an important message for all Facebook users. There’s no way for you to find out who has been viewing your Facebook profile, or your total number of Facebook profile views, and Mark Zuckerberg isn’t asking you to verify your account either.
If you have been hit by scams like this on Facebook, and are struggling to clean-up your profile, here’s a YouTube video I made which describes what steps you need to take:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Or-qR0Y300w&w=500&h=311&rel=0]Make sure that you keep informed about the latest scams spreading fast across Facebook and other internet attacks. Join the Sophos page on Facebook, where over 50,000 people regularly share information on threats and discuss the latest security news.
Hat tip: Thanks to all the Naked Security readers who informed us about this fast-spreading scam.
