Today, I came across a new hoax message that has gone viral on Facebook, which alerts users about a new virus program, which will download automatically and crash the user’s computer hard disk. Well, please note that this is a fake message and there is no such threat to any user.
PLEASE CIRCULATE THIS NOTICE TO YOUR FRIENDS, FAMILY, CONTACTS! In the coming days, you should be aware@: Do not open any message with an attachment called: Invitation FACEBOOK, regardless of who sent it. It’s virus that opens an Olympic torch that burns the hard disc C of your computer. Virus will be received from someone in your address book .. If you receive mail called: Inviitation FACEBOOK, though sent by a friend, DO NOT OPEN IT and DELETE IT IMMEDIATELY.
The message is spreading in the above form and users are blindly sharing it on their walls. This is a fake message and there is no such virus spreading on Facebook. The fake message is similar to the one that was reported last year, which fooled users by stating that their Facebook account was suspended and required to complete a survey to reactivate it.
As you can see, users are thanking their friends for sharing the “vital information”, which clearly indicates that they have fallen for the fake message. Before you blindly share such messages on Facebook, please make sure that you verify it. Facebook will update their blog or Facebook Security page if there are any such threats.
If you come across this message on your Facebook news feed, remove/delete it by clicking the “X” mark on the top-right corner of the post. You can also request your friends to delete the post to avoid the message from spreading further.
If your computer is affected by a virus, then removing it is pretty simple. You just need to have a good Antivirus and anti-spyware software on your computer and your PC should be safe. There are several Free Antivirus software available out there. You might also want to read our guides about securing your PC and keeping your PC safe on the Internet.
As a precautionary measure, always check which applications you use and remove unwanted or suspicious ones. If you aren’t sure how to do it, you can always check our guide on removing apps from Facebook. In addition to that, don’t forget to check out our article about Avoiding Facebook Lifejacking and Clickjacking scams and Identifying and Avoiding Facebook Scams.
