14 DAY TRIAL // Another bogus virus warning is currently making the rounds on Facebook. This time, users are being warned about a virus called “Death Age.”
The posts read something like this, all in uppercase letters:
“Attention everyone who can see this please read theres a Facebook virus calles death age a firey skull with the age you supposedly live until with one comment to a link do not follow it!!! It posts to everything you belong to I swear to everything thats truth copy, paste and share this post hurry ive already been infected and its posting me everywhere and its not me”
As Hoax Slayer highlights, the message is highly inaccurate and misleading. While there are some Facebook apps that post spam on the user’s behalf, they’re not actual viruses.
Furthermore, Facebook members have to explicitly give these apps permission before they can do anything.
Apps that can allegedly tell you when you’ll die are not uncommon on Facebook, and some of them do post on your behalf all sorts of messages. However, users can avoid them by checking the permissions they ask for before installing them.
If they’re too intrusive, simply don’t install them. If you’ve already installed such an app, you can simply remove them by following the instructions provided by Facebook.
Warning your Facebook friends about malicious applications is not a bad thing. However, if you’re going to do it, do it right, not by writing a misleading and overblown post that’s difficult to understand. Also, refrain from sharing such bogus warnings with your friends.
Unfortunately, Facebook is far from being a safe social media platform. It’s often abused by spammers and scammers and most users don’t fully comprehend the risks of clicking on random links, or liking and sharing posts without verifying their legitimacy.