14 DAY TRIAL // Security researchers from antivirus vendor Sophos warn that a new survey scam quickly spreading on Facebook produces spam messages that promote an adoptable dancing snowman.
The messages are sent from the victims' profiles and read "wow I just got a Free Dancing Snowman for my farm grab yours from [link]"
The link takes users to a page showing the image of a snowman with an associated note that says: "The raving snowman. Click on him. If he dances you can adopt him free."
Of course, there isn't actually any luck involved and the snowman dances every time when it is clicked, to give users the impression that they've won.
Pressing the "CLAIM" button shown on the page will prompt a wall post dialog an already filled message that reads: "Farmer [name] was able to make the Snowman dance and claimed him as a free gift, can you!"
People who press "Publish" are then taken to a page suggesting that they need to complete a survey until the offer expires. At the very least, these surveys collect private information for spamming purposes, but sometimes they also deceive users into subscribing to premium rate services.
Considering all the farmer references, it's fair to assume that this scam was crafted to target the millions of FarmVille players. We've seen a similar spam campaigns before, using a "Secret Cow" as lure.
"My advice? You're unlikely - even if you wanted one - to receive a dancing snowman, but are being asked to hand over personal information to unknown parties. Don't click on the links and learn to be more suspicious in future," says Graham Cluley, a senior technology consultant at Sophos.
Users who were tricked by this scam are advised to remove the spam messages from their walls in order to protect their friends and family members.