14 DAY TRIAL // Security researchers warn that Facebook scammers are targeting students by promising them a VPN service which allows bypassing browsing restrictions in schools.
The spam messages simply read "Use [link] to access Facebook in school," and the advertised website purports to be a free proxy service.
For more experienced users it will immediately be clear that something is off because the technical explanation is wrong, however, kids makle for much easier to convince targets.
The page speaks of a VPN service, which allegedly helps users establish virtual private networks through the browser and only requires typing the destination URL in a box.
"As long as you browse through the special vpn browser you are good to go. Your privacy is 100% safe with up as we don't keep logs of the websites you browse through us," the site claims.
Security researchers from Sunbelt explain that following the instructions will only lead users to malicious advertisements and rogue surveys.
For example, an ad for playing the original Pac-Man game online led to a page pushing the MyWebSearch adware.
Another one promoted an IQ quiz which asked users for their mobile phone numbers in order to send them the result.
Typing in the phone number is a very bad idea as it automatically subscribes victims to a $9.99 per month premium service.
Navigating through the flurry of displayed ads revealed even more scams and deceptive tricks meant to get users subscribed to expensive and useless sevices.
This scam doesn't seem to have a self-propagation mechanism, which suggests that the spam messages are either being sent from compromised accounts or from ones particularly registered for this purpose.
Nevertheless, regardless of how they are being spread or the number of affected users, scams targeting children should always be treated as high risk.