Internet Security – Attention Grabbing Video Links In Facebook Are Nothing More Than Scams

by Edward Ramamoorthy · Published April 17, 2011 · Updated April 17, 2011

Internet Security - Attention Grabbing Video Links In Facebook Are Nothing More Than Scams

Anti-virus company Sophos is warning Facebook users against clicking on links to video hosted on sites named FouTube, FBVideo and YoTube, amongst others. The sites are all fake, designed to lure users into clicking on links with sensational titles. Users are conned into allowing rogue Facebook apps to access their personal information, or into clicking unseen ‘Like’ links, which automatically cause status messages with the same scam links to be posted to all their friends newsfeeds.

Facebook Video Survey Scam

Scams Targeting Facebook Account Information

The videos are of course not real, and those who click the links are forwarded to pages containing surveys, which earn the spammer money through referrals. Examples of such fake video names include “Look what happens when father catches daughter making sexy webcam video” or ‘Miley Cyrus Scam’ and exploiting the recent tragedies in Japan, “Japanese tsunami launches whale into building!”