Can you really get a free iPad 3G or iPhone 4 by signing up just to be a tester? It sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it? And it is.
But, like me, you may have seen users on Facebook who appear to be promoting special deals which offer just that.
Here’s an example of a typical iPad tester scam that has been seen many times on Facebook in the last few days:
Heyyyyy everyone )), 3 days ago I signed up at [website link] as a tester and today I got my iPad. All you need to do is to tell them your opinion about iPad and you can keep it forever. You should hurry since i highly doubt this is gonna last forever
And here’s an example of a similarly-worded iPhone 4 tester scam:
Hey, 3 days ago I signed up at [website link] as a tester and today I got my iPhone4g. All you need to do is to tell them your opinion about iPhone 4g and you can keep it forever. You should hurry since i highly doubt this is gonna last forever
Many of these messages are appearing on users' photo walls.
Clearly accounts have been compromised, and innocent users are finding their Facebook pages abused by spammers who are trying to direct traffic to websites which try and grab your personal information (and presumably make some money for the spammers in the process).
Some users also report receiving similarly worded messages via Facebook’s instant messaging chat system – seemingly from their Faceboook friends, but actually from cybercriminals who have hacked their accounts.
And no, you’re not going to receive a free iPad or iPhone 4. Sorry.
If you’ve found messages like these on your Facebook profile or in your photo galleries, remove them immediately and change your passwords. You would also be wise to have a thorough overhaul of your privacy and account settings – to make sure that they’re secure enough. If you see applications or “likes” of pages that you are uncertain about, remove them from your account.
And, don’t forget, now would be a very good time to do a virus-scan with an up-to-date anti-malware product – just in case there’s some spyware lurking on your computer which is trying to grab your account details.
