14 DAY TRIAL // A series of FarmVille-themed scams have targeted Facebook users recently by offering them rewards and prizes in the form of in-game cash or rare animals.
One of the most recent ones advertises a so called "FarmVille Rewards Program" and produces spam messages that read "This rare Ptarmigan Willow needs a home, help him!"
Clicking on the advertised link takes users to a page suggesting they will receive the rare creature as a reward.
However, trying to claim it prompts a dialog to post the spam message as a status update on their wall.
They are then taken to another page offering a different reward - 200 Farm Cash. Trying to accept this one too, asks them to complete a survey.
Another scam revolves around FarmVille surprise gifts. The spam message reads: "[someone] claimed a free FarmVille Fiordland Penguin after cracking open a Candy Cane Egg!"
The included link leads to a page that claims to give users a chance to win a gift, if they act fast. Just like in the previous scam, trying to accept the gift involves the user spamming their friends.
A rogue "FarmVille Game Bar" is also offered for download. It can allegedly keep users informed about future bonuses.People who fall for the trick will also end up on a survey page.
According to Facecrooks, earlier this week similar scams used an Icelandic horse and a wolf cub as lures to attract users.
Many of these surveys are malicious affiliate marketing schemes that trick people into subscribing to premium rate mobile services.
This sort of scams have been plaguing Facebook for more than a year now and it doesn't seem the company has done much to block them, not successfully at least.
Users who fell for these tricks are advised to remove the spam messages from their walls and, if they disclosed their phone number, they should also contact the carrier and ask them to block any additional charges.