Security giant Sophos is warning Facebook users about a current survey scam spreading virally across the Web site.
The company says messages claiming to share the users' first ever Facebook status updates are being posted on users' walls by a rogue application.
Typical posts read:
"My 1st St@tus was: '[random message]'. This was posted on [random date]
Find your 1st St@tus @ [LINK]"
Should a user click on this link that poses as a link posted by a friend, they are directed a rogue Facebook application. This application will then ask users to give it permission to access their profile, which gives the rogue application the ability to post the same message from the affected account. Users are also taken to a Web page which contains a survey.
Sophos says the scammers cash in by making commission from the number of users that complete the survey, and in some cases, Facebook users have been asked for their mobile phone numbers in order to sign them up for a premium-rate service.
"Many people are all too quick to give permission to rogue applications such as these, giving the scammers free reign of their Facebook account,” says Brett Myroff, CEO of regional Sophos distributor, Sophos SA.
He adds that if users allow these applications to access their profiles, they may well find that the application has posted a message on their Facebook page that can be seen by their Facebook friends and used to perpetuate the scam.
The social network users that have been affected should delete references and links to this scam to avoid spreading it.
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