14 DAY TRIAL // Shady Facebook posts that advertise all sorts of outrageous videos are not uncommon, but experts warn that they’re once again making a comeback, trying to dupe users into taking part in surveys that earn fraudsters a lot of money.
The “video” that can’t be watched for more than 25 seconds, the one in which a snake eats a man, and the “shocking” footage featuring a man in a wheelchair falling down are just a few examples reported by Sophos’ Graham Cluley.
So, let’s take a closer look at how these scams work.
When the user clicks on the link, he/she is taken to a page that displays an alleged video player window. However, the play button from this fake screen actually hides some clever code that, when triggered, is equivalent to pressing a “Like” button.
The “Like” is associated to a page controlled by the fraudsters. This way all the victim’s friends will see the alleged video and might be tempted to also click on the link.
Of course, the crooks are not happy only with the fact that the victim likes their page. In the end, a classic survey pops up, promising the user fabulous prizes in return for a few clicks.
This is the point where the fraudsters actually win money. The clickjacking mechanism is only utilized for spreading the scam.
So, how can we avoid smudging our wall with shady posts and helping the clickjackers earn money?
The easiest way to do that is to avoid clicking on suspicious links. If you do click on them, make sure to remove the posts from your wall before your friends become too curious.
Also, as Graham Cluley highlights, some antivirus solutions, including the ones from Sophos, do a great job in identifying clickjacking scams.