Although the social media giant Facebook has taken measures to eradicate spam and hoax messages from its site, spam messages are continuing to galore as may users are falling for tricks set by hackers and spammers in an aim to steal user information.
Today, I noticed yet another scam message spreading across Facebook. The new scam tricks users into installing a rogue Facebook application, promising them to show the list of users who viewed their profile.
Although this particular scam has been reported earlier a several times, with users being warned not to click on such messages, yet users continue clicking it and install the Facebook app. The new variant is very much similar to previous scam messages, and attempts to steal personal information from tricked Facebook users.
Did you know? 14 million Facebook Accounts are used to spread spam messages.
The new scam is spreading with the title Facebook Profile Viewer containing the following messages:
Yes! I can’t believe that you can see who is viewing your profile! I just saw my top profile viewers and I am SHOCKED from who are viewing my profile! You can also see WHO VIEWED YOUR PROFILE
WOW I just saw my top 10 profile VIEWERS. You can now see who’s been stalking at your profile for real! You can easily check who’s spying on you at [link]
My total profile views today:
Male Viewers: 31
Female Viewers: 64
See your total views and who is viewing you here
Clicking the scam will take you to the Facebook app installation page, where you are asked to grant permissions to the rogue app to post updates on your behalf and also access your information on Facebook. Providing access will put your Facebook account at high risk as scammers might try to hack it and steal all your information.
The app looks like just any other Facebook app and will ask for your permissions before taking you to a page where they will ask you to complete a survey before you can see “Who’s viewing your Facebook Profile”. However, once you complete the survey it will only make money for the scammers and not show you the information you are looking for.
Here is a list of previously reported similar scam messages spreading on Facebook:
- My Total Facebook Views Scam Spreading On Facebook
- See Who Has Viewed Your Profile Event Spam Spreading on Facebook
- Woah! My Profile Was Viewed 51 Times Just Today – Facebook Scam
- OMG! My Profile Has Been Viewed 97 Times Just Today Facebook Scam
- Who Checked Your Facebook Profile Scam Underway
- OMG Its Horrible my Ex is Still Checking My Profile – Facebook Spam
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.
Last week, Facebook announced the launch of [email protected], an email address available to the public to report phishing attempts against Facebook.
With over 955 million monthly active users on Facebook, the social networking giant has always been the main target for spreading scams. It is quite difficult to identify scams on Facebook. Here is a post on How to Identify and Avoid Facebook Scams. Bookmark Techie Buzz Facebook Scams or Subscribe to Scam Alert Feed. We always keep you updated with the latest scams spreading on Facebook.