14 DAY TRIAL // Security researchers warn that Facebook scammers have already started capitalizing on the upcoming Valentine's Day by launching specifically-themed campaigns.
It's well know that the number of scams surges around major holidays, and not only on social networking sites, but on the entire Internet.
Obviously Valentine's Day is no different and as February 14 approaches the frequency of attacks is expected to increase.
Some of the Valentine's Day scams currently circulating on Facebook produce messages that read: "There is only one happiness in life, to love and be loved. Happy Valentines! [link]" or "My Valentine this 2011 is going to be [name] :) See your now! [link]."
Another one promises to help users write Valentine's Day poetry. "Is there a girl/boy you really like? why not show her/him via Facebook! give her/him a Love Poem and a Love Heart straight to her/his wall! Ger Started Here: [link]," the rogue invitation reads.
The advertised links take users to pages that promote fake apps. Once installed, these post spam messages on their walls in order to propagate the scams.
"Sophos has identified rogue Facebook applications with names such as Valentine's Day and Special Valentine which are responsible for the messages, but it is possible that the scammers could have created others which use similarly love-themed messages," warns Graham Cluley, a senior technology consultant at Sophos.
The point of these scams is to convince users to participate in deceptive surveys that trick them into signing up for premium rate mobile services.
Even if these offers, which sometime come from legit affiliate marketing companies, are not malicious in nature, the scammers still earn commissions each time users complete them.
People affected by these scam should go to Account > Privacy Settings > Applications and Websites and remove the rogue apps. They should also clean their wall of spam messages.