BANGALORE, INDIA: End-point security firm Symantec has cautioned Facebook users of The New Facebook “Untag Yourself” spam.
According to Abhijit Limaye, Director, Security response, Symantec, the post looks as though it is sent from an iPhone, when this is not the case. This is done to give an appearance of further credibility to the spam.
Limaye adds that the message may vary slightly as it is randomly generated by using a combination of the urban slangs commonly used on such social networking forums. Exclamations like OMG, Hey, WTF, YO, ROTFL are used to entice curiosity in a user, attempting him to click the link. “You look so stupid” and “You should untag yourself” triggers the interest of the Facebook user and others visiting his wall. This results in more number of clicks and further spreading the spam.
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When the video is clicked, the malicious JavaScript gets copied to the clipboard and the user is asked to paste (“Ctrl+V”) this into the address bar and press “Enter”.
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Next, a message is displayed, which has the Facebook “look and feel” asking the user to fill out a survey to verify his/her account details. It’s a SPAM! Filling out the survey doesn’t verify anything; it just nets a survey fee for the spammers.
Unfortunately, by this time the spam video link is sent to everyone in the user’s friends list in an attempt to keep the campaign spreading, Limaye added.
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