Be-aware of hacker & ID thieves on Facebook

As we all know Social-networking Web sites can be a great way to network, find old friends, classmates and even make new friends. However; hackers have learned how to use sites like Facebook to load viruses and steal identities, making your life a living hell. If you do not know what I mean, try reestablishing your identity once it has been abused. You don't want to go there.

The popularity of social-networking sites has grown tremendously in the last couple of years. If you do not know what I am talking about, you may be some of the few who have not taken advantage of the new technology out there. Guess what, you are missing a ton of business and social opportunities.

Facebook was growing at a rate of 500,000 new users a day and is soon approaching 150 million active users. Plus its users spend more than 2.6 billion minutes on the site every day. That is a lot of time. In my day it was the television.

Of course the scammers are also seeing this as an opportunity to make money and generally create KAOS.

Those who are on facebook do so because it is an easy way to connect with people we know and trust. This is where the scammers take advantage of that trust. They will masquerade as a co-worker or friend and load a virus unknowing to you that will steal your personal information. You will never see it or know that it is there unless you are religiously running antivirus software. And even then, they are coming up with new ones every day.

I just want to share with you some social-networking schemes

• "Friend in distress" scam

At first it was a phone call, then it was an email, and now it has made it to Facebook. As a facebook user you may receive a distress message from a friend who is out of the United States and needs to have some money wired to them. Hello, if they are one of my friends why did they have access to a computer and not a phone? Seems to me that just about everyone I know owns a cell phone. The whole goal of this scan is that the recipient of the message does not know that the friend's account was hacked and the request for money is coming from scammer and not the actual friend.

• Phishing friends

The Koobface virus has made the rounds of many social networking sites. In Facebook, the victim receives a message from a friend that says "You look awesome in this video" or "You look funny in this video." This message also includes a link to an outside Web site. By clicking on the link a window will open up stating that you need to download an updated version of Flash. After you unknowingly agree to this by clicking yes, a virus is loaded onto your computer that is designed to monitor all of your Internet activity and potentially stealing your personal information. This is a nasty virus, to the point where people had to get a new hard drive because it was so embedded into the operating system.

• Viral wall post

Another Facebook scam takes advantage of a social networker's fears that the pictures and information posted on the site could be made public. The facebook user gets a post on their wall (from a hacked friends account) stating that your facebook picture and info is all over the web.

You should never ever post anything on the internet that you would not be embarrassed to show your mother. Follow this rule and you will never have to worry about someone reposting your information or pictures.

Here is how you can be safe in the Social network

• Be wary of messages from friends or strangers that direct you to another Web site via a Hyperlink.
• Before you wire the money to a friend in a trouble, always contact your friend outside the social networking site.
• Ensure that your computer's operating system, antivirus software and firewall are up to date.
• Keep important information to yourself.
• Always be selective when choosing friends on social-networking sites.

My two cents

I do not write this to scare anyone into not using facebook or any other social networking web site. I just want to make sure that you are using common sense when you are on Facebook. It is a great place to keep in touch and make new friends. Please just use it wisely and think before you hit that enter button. Once it is out on the web, you can never take it off.

shawn.murray@remax.net