Facebook may be the future of cyber crime
The newly released Internet Threat Trends Report shows that Facebook is still the most common place that web users are targeted by cyber crime. Officials from CommTouch, who authored the report, said that this may be because the website fosters personal connections, which makes some users unaware that they may be targeted by criminals.
Additionally, the report states that the use of malware, or malicious software, on Facebook has also grown. This year, the researchers found that one of the most common techniques for spreading malware was through a program that promised Facebook users that they could see who was viewing their profile if they clicked on a link.
Another scam that cyber criminals used this year was sending Facebook users messages that said their their accounts were shut down and prompting them to click on a link in order to revive their pages, eWeek reports. When people do so, the link downloads a virtual worm on their computers, which essentially hijacks their Facebook accounts.
People who click on this link are not able to access their Facebook pages until they complete a questionnaire that asks for a cellphone number, the news source states. When individuals complete this form, their mobile phones will be charged a fee every week.
