14 DAY TRIAL // A Facebook spam campaign has reached epic proportions in France, enough for the local government to issue a formal warning last week, after the number of infections went through the roof.
The campaign consists in users receiving a message from one of their friends, asking them if they are the person in a video.
The link purports to be a YouTube video uploaded online. The message is very well engineered to use both the receiver's name and photo for the spam link's preview.
Users who follow the link are tricked to install a Chrome browser extension to view the video. The extension hides the Eko malware.
According to reports in French local media, including the Le Monde newspaper, this extension, which uses different names, injects ads in the pages users visit, but can also collect data such as passwords and browser history.
Facebook is currently scanning and blocking these messages. On Tuesday, October 4, France's Interior Ministry warned users via its Facebook page not to click on these links.
Users who have clicked on the links are encouraged to search their browser's settings and remove the rogue extension. Authorities say that users of other browsers might have been served add-ons as well. As of this moment, there is no evidence that the spam campaign affected users outside of France.
Le ministère de l'Intérieur alerte sur 1 virus circulant sur Facebook messenger.Si vous recevez 1 lien de type (en .graphics) Ne pas cliquer pic.twitter.com/l25I4UsLqR — Aurélie Sarrot (@aureliesarrot) October 4, 2016