‘Tis the season to scam unsuspecting Facebook users. There’s a new scam coming to the US that downloads malware and rootkits and steals your financial information through Facebook and other social media outlets. A hacker thief in Russia is using the post-Christmas season to lure people into clicking on links in Facebook posts that offer them free stuff. You should never click something that looks free on Facebook unless you know for sure it isn’t a scam. This particular scam uses tiny URLs and that is one of the giveaways on it. Just remember, if it looks too good to be true, it almost surely is.
From Aol:
This weekend, you’re going to be on social media sites like Facebook a lot. You’ll post pictures of your family opening Christmas gifts. You’ll scan through messages to see how the people you care about spent the holiday.
You may also see a lot offers from stores, whether it’s after-Christmas sales or year-end sales. You’ll probably also see links to win free stuff. Which, on Facebook, is a red flag.
There’s currently a Facebook scam affecting Portuguese-speaking people in South America that is likely to be replicated in English here, and elsewhere around the world. Don’t fall victim to this serious scam, which infects your computer with malware, and steals you financial information.
These Facebook scammers post “free stuff” messages on Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites. The first thing to note is that you shouldn’t click on any offer you see on Facebook, unless you know for sure it’s not a scam.
Second, this specific scam is notable for posting short links, or tiny URLs. Those are those shorted website addresses you see on Twitter and other sites.
Here’s how the scam works. You’ll see an offer for a coupon voucher for something like the WhatsApp smartphone messenger, or anti-virus software. (Both of which you can get free without a coupon.) If you unfortunately click on that link, the hacker will download a Spy Banker Downloader Trojan and then a Spy Banker Trojan Telax which will infect your computer so they can steal your personal information. These Trojans download malware and rootkits to take over your computer and they are difficult to get rid of. Many Facebook users are tricked into turning over their two-step verification for their accounts as well. So, be very careful out there and I highly recommend Kim Komando’s site for security tips. Think before you click.