Who's Stalking You on Facebook Application Scam - - Yet Again With 'Who See Your Pr@file' Facebook Scam

Beware! Its a Cyber World - - Summary:

Several messages posted on Facebook claim that, by following a link and installing a Facebook application, you can see who has been viewing your Facebook Profile or find out who has been stalking you.

In fact, the claims in these messages are false. All Facebook apps that claim that they will enable you to see who has viewed your profile are scams (presented here earlier). None work as claimed. These rogue applications are designed to fool Facebook users into visiting spam survey websites, signing up for expensive SMS or online services or parting with their personal information. 

The message wordings are quite enticing, just see below:

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EXAMPLE 1

Cool ,man I cannot believe that you can see who is viewing your profile. ! I just saw my top 10 profile stalkers and I am SHOCKED that my Ex is still viewing my profile :O ! You can also see WHO VIEWED YOUR PROFILE here [Link Removed]! Its Super Cool

 

EXAMPLE 2

Wow Now you can see Who is Stalking on your Profile [Link Removed] 

EXAMPLE 3

Amazing! 8909 People viewed my Profile in 2010! And I just found out that My Ex was stalking over my Profile and was among top 10 viewers! I hate it seriously and I am Shocked! You can Check Who Viewed your Profile Here NOW - [Link Removed] 

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Beware! Its a Cyber World - - Explanation:

Most users of social network Facebook, will have seen posts that promote applications that supposedly allow Facebook users to see who has been viewing their profile. These posts often claim that you can identify stalkers that may have been visiting your profile without your knowledge. The posts link to a Facebook application that will supposedly allow the user to view a list of those who have been viewing his or her profile.

However, the claims in these posts are nothing more than lies designed to trick Facebook users into installing rogue Facebook applications. In a typical case, here is what happens if a user goes ahead and gives permission for one of these rogue apps to access his or her Facebook account:

1. As soon as permission is granted, the rogue application will automatically post a copy of the message promoting the rogue app to the user's Facebook wall.
   
2. The user will then be presented with a list like the one in the screenshot below that supposedly reveals those who have recently viewed his or her profile:

 

As the screenshot reveals, pictures and names on the list are obscured and "locked".

The user is then presented with a pop-up window that claims that he or she must complete a survey to verify the account before being allowed to continue:

However, even after the user completes a "survey", he or she will be informed that the "verification" failed and that another survey must be completed. In fact, the supposed list of "stalkers" is entirely bogus. Often, no matter how many surveys the user completes, the list of stalkers will never be unlocked as promised. In other cases, the app may finally reveal a completely random list of the user's normal Facebook friends with the false claim that the list represents "profile stalkers". The "survey" links in fact lead to suspect third party websites that attempt to trick users into signing up for ridiculously over priced "services", downloading spyware, or providing personal information that may subsequently be used by spammers to distribute unwanted advertising material. Often, users are told that they must provide a mobile phone number in order to get the results of the "survey" and finish the verification process. However, fine print on the page informs users that, by entering their phone number, they are actually signing up for very expensive, ongoing SMS "service" that will be billed at several dollars for every text message received.

There have been many of these bogus "stalker" apps promoted on Facebook and new versions keep emerging. While details of the promotions may vary, none are legitimate. Not one of these bogus applications will actually provide users with meaningful or valid information about who has been viewing their profile. Such claims are outright lies. If you see a message promoting such an app posted on Facebook, do not click on the link provided. Do not give the application permission to access your account. And, if possible, inform the holder of the account where the message was posted that the application is bogus and should be removed.

Don't Accept Friendship Request From ROLAND DREYER, MATTHIAS DAMBERGER, MARIO SOMMER, FABIAN BERNEDER OR FRANK BECKER - Baseless Hackers Warning Alert on Facebook and Other Social Networks

Beware! Its a Cyber World - - Summary:

Recently, an alert has been posted on Facebook and other social networks warns users not to accept friendship inquiries from Roland Dreyer, Matthias Damberger, Mario Sommer, Fabian Berneder or Frank Becker because they are hackers intent on destroying your hard disk.

What do You think ...??? Yes, you are right, the claims in the warning are false and totally baseless. Hackers can't access to your computer by just you accepting a social network friendship request. This "alert" is just one more in a long line of absurd "hacker warning" hoaxes that use different names for the supposed hackers. These warnings are pointless and re-posting them will help no one, except spreading cyber confusion.

The message looks like the shown hereunder:

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REPOST

- ALERT!!! DO NOT ACCEPT ANY FRIENDSHIP INQUIRIES FROM: ROLAND DREYER, MATTHIAS DAMBERGER, MARIO SOMMER, FABIAN BERNEDER OR FRANK BECKER !!!!! THESE ARE HACKERS!!!!! THEY CAN DESTROY THE HARD DISK!!!!!!... PLEASE, COPY TEXT ON YOUR BULLETIN BOARD!!! SO THAT YOUR FRIENDS ARE PROTECTED
 

 

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Beware! Its a Cyber World - - Explanation:

According to this "alert" message, which is circulating rapidly around Facebook and other social networks and message boards, hackers named Roland Dreyer, Matthias Damberger, Mario Sommer, Fabian Berneder and Frank Becker are trying to gain access to computers by sending people "friendship inquiries". The warning suggests, that just by accepting a friend request from one of these people, you will allow them to take control of your computer after which they will destroy your hard disk. The post asks users to repost the information so that others may be warned about this supposed hacker threat.

However, the claims in the message are nonsense and the "alert" should not be taken seriously. In fact, the warning is just one more in a long line of very similar - and equally false - hacker hoaxes that have circulated in various forms for several years. From time to time, some prankster will substitute a new name or set of names for the supposed hackers before relaunching the altered hoax to the online community. These pranksters, either out of deliberate malice or a misguided attempt to play a practical joke, often use the names of real individuals. Thus, spreading such rumours may have a detrimental impact on the reputations of innocent people.

In 2009, a similar hoax warned users not to accept friend requests from supposed hackers named Christopher or Jessica Davies:

DO NOT ACCEPT A FRIEND REQUEST FROM CHRISTOPHER DAVIES OR JESSICA DAVIES, THEY ARE HACKERS !!!! PLEASE TELL EVERYONE ON YOUR LIST BECAUSE IF SOMEONE ON YOUR LIST ADDS THEM THEY WILL BE ON YOUR LIST TOO....HE WILL FIGURE OUT YOUR COMPUTER IP AND ADDRESS. SO PLEASE COPY N PASTE THIS MESSAGE TO EVERYONE, BECAUSE IF HE HACKS THEM, HE HACKS YOU.TOO!

Another 2009 incarnation warned of the dangers of accepting one Christopher Butterfield as an online friend:

DO NOT ACCEPT a friend request from a CHRISTOPHER BUTTERFIELD he is a hacker. Tell everyone on your list because if somebody on your list adds him u get him on your list too and he'll figure out ur computer's ID and address, so copy and paste this message to everyone even if u don't care for them cause if he hacks their email he hacks your mail too! SEND TO ALL FRIENDS. Copy and paste to ur page...

And yet another variant that has circulated continually for more than two years breathlessly warns users to watch out for a hacker named Simon Ashton:

IF THIS PERSON CALLED SIMON ASHTON (SIMON_25_@HOTMAIL.CO.UK) CONTACTS YOU THROUGH EMAIL DONT ACCEPT HIM. DELETE HIM BECAUSE HE IS A HACKER!! TELL EVERYONE ON YOUR LIST BECAUSE IF SOMEBODY ON YOUR LIST ADDS HIM THEN YOU WILL GET HIM ON YOUR LIST. HE WILL FIGURE OUT YOUR ID COMPUTER ADDRESS, SO COPY AND PASTE THIS MESSAGE TO EVERYONE AND FAST BECAUSE IF HE HACKS THEIR EMAIL HE HACKS YOUR MAIL TOO!!!!!..

The supposed hacking methods described in these hoax warnings are technically impossible. The messages suggest that just accepting a person as a "friend" on your contact list will give the hacker access to your computer. This is total nonsense. Hackers certainly do use a range of tactics to trick users into relinquishing access to their computers. Hackers might, for example, trick victims into installing trojan software that allows a computer to be controlled remotely. Or they might use a phishing attack to trick a victim into sending them personal information such as usernames and passwords, which would, of course, allow hackers to access their victim's account. However, even the smartest hacker will not be able to hack your computer just by being added to your contact list. For a hacking attempt to be successful, some sort of file transfer or exchange of information must take place.

Moreover, this version of the hoax suggests that these hackers are intent on gaining access to your computer so that they can destroy its hard drive. However, generally speaking, hackers want to gain control of computers so that they can steal information and/or use the compromised computers for further nefarious activities. Thus, such hackers have no reason or desire to render the hacked computer unusable by destroying its hard drive. And, even if a hacker does gain remote control of a computer's software, there is no way that he or could physically destroy or damage the computer's hard drive or other hardware components even if he wanted to.

These absurd hacker hoaxes are related to a series of earlier hoax warnings that claimed that malicious individuals were trying to spread a virus by adding people to their MSN Messenger contact list.

Reposting such hoaxes serves no worthwhile purpose. Spreading false and inaccurate information about computer security issues is counterproductive. If you receive this hacker hoax or one of its many variants, please do not repost it. And please take a minute to let the person who posted it to you know that the claims in the "warning" are false.

Social Networks Vulnerability - - Hacked Facebook Accounts and Ultimate Balckmailing of Victims

 

 Let this serve as a cautionary tale about the perils of social networking in particular and keeping racy photos of yourself in general. Oh wait, should it be the other way around? We’re confused. Never mind. Just read on.

Last Friday California police arrested George Samuel Bronck, an unemployed 23 year-old hacker who broke into his victims’ email accounts to retrieve x-rated/compromising pics of them. He then posted the offending material on their Facebook pages (76 so far), wreaking much havoc and loss of face. One distraught victim was sensible enough to notify the police, who traced Bronck thru an IP address. Child porn has since been found on his hard drive.

The details that surfaced regarding Bronck’s modus reveals an unsophisticated method that once more puts the spotlight on the whole how-much-personal-info-should-be-on-Facebook issue. What he did was change his victims passwords by reading their profiles for personal info. Since Yahoo and Gmail accounts use pre-answered questions for password changes, a lot of educated guesses and persistence allowed him to access the email accounts of 2,300 women. The man was on a perverted mission, you might say.

Click on the source link for extra reportage because we’ve kinda made a point here:Always Beware! Because Its a Cyber World.

Source: Switched

Another Charity Hoax - - 15 Cents to Donate Dell Hospital Expenses of Maria, 5-Years Old Girl Raped Brutally

Beware! Its a Cyber World - - Summary:

Facebook message, circulating wildly, claims that Dell Hospital will donate 15 cents to help pay medical expenses for five year old Maria who is in hospital after being brutally raped by a man who has AIDS.

What's the reality..?? In fact, the claims in the message are utter nonsense. Neither Dell Hospital nor any other organization will donate money to help a sick or injured child when a particular message is forwarded or reposted. All such claims are false. This message is just one more in a long series of absurd hoaxes that claim that a child will receive donations when a message is sent on.

Let's have a look to the contents of the message:

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This guy raped a five year old little girl. He ruined her life, she is alive & in the hospital can’t move and can never have children, or a normal life. This guy goes by different names he is in hiding & has AIDS. The girl came out positive. Please help us catch this animal. Every time this message is fwd the Dell Hospital will donate $.15 to Maria’s medication & treatment. Please don’t hesitate to fwd this. It could’ve been you’re daughter or sister. God bless. Thank you!. Forward this to as many people as you can.


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Beware! Its a Cyber World - - Explanation:

According to this message, which circulates via text, email and social networking websites such as Facebook, you can help five year old rape victim Maria simply by forwarding or reposting the information. The message claims that Maria is in hospital with serious injuries and illness after being brutally raped by a man who has AIDS. It further claims that Dell Hospital will donate 15 cents to help pay Maria's medical expenses every time the message is forwarded to another person.

However, the claims in the message are nonsense and have no basis in fact whatsoever. No sick or injured child will receive donations just because an absurd message is forwarded or reposted. Dell Children's Medical Center has denied the claims in an alert published on its website, noting:

ALERT: SPAM Text Message Makes False Claim

A false text message has been circulating that describes an incident involving a 5-year old girl. The message states that every time you forward it to someone, Dell Children's Medical Center will donate 15 cents to cover the child's healthcare expenses. This message is spam and is in no way affiliated with Dell Children's Medical Center or the Seton Family of Hospitals. If you receive this message, please delete it.

In fact this message is just one more in a long and sorry line of similar hoaxes that claim that a sick or injured child will receive donations whenever a particular email, SMS or social networking post is sent on. Any such claim is certain to be false. No legitimate charity, company or individual is ever likely to agree to participate in an utterly ridiculous fund-raising campaign that is based on the random and uncontrolled forwarding of a particular message.

And, even if some foolish and misguided organization did agree to participate in such an absurd scheme, there would be no accurate and reliable way of tracking how many times the charity message was actually sent on, and, therefore no viable method of calculating how much money was to be donated. For example, in this case, the charity message started as a mobile phone text, then quickly moved on to email, then Facebook and beyond. Clearly, it would be impossible to keep track of a message that might be sent on hundreds of thousands of times in several different message formats.

There are no credible reports that describe the particular incident outlined in the hoax message. It is likely that the story was simply made up by the malicious prankster who created the hoax. To make matters worse, some versions of the message circulate with a photograph of a heavily tattooed man who is identified as the rapist. Thus, the person in the photograph is being falsely labelled as a child rapist. Moreover, an earlier version of the hoax included a photograph of a completely different person. Such misidentifications could have a very serious and long-lasting impact on the reputations of innocent people and even put them in danger of attack from angry people intent on revenge.

A simple rule of thumb.

Any message in any format that claims that money will be donated just for forwarding is certain to be a hoax and should not be sent on.

You can rest assured that forwarding such hoax messages will help nobody, least of all a sick or injured child. In fact, such messages may actually be harmful in that they waste the valuable time and resources of charitable or health organizations who find themselves obligated to respond to the claims in these hoaxes. As, noted above, they may also unfairly damage the reputation of innocent people or compromise their safety. If you receive such a hoax message, please do not forward it to others. And please let the sender know that the message is a hoax.

Facebook Group Titled "becoming a father or mother was the greatest gift of my life" - - Email Hoax Claiming The Group Operated by Pedophiles

Beware! Its a Cyber World - - Summary:

Message circulating on Facebook warns users not to join the group titled "becoming a father or mother was the greatest gift of my life" because it is operated by a group of pedophiles intent on accessing your Facebook photographs.


In fact, this warning is totally meaningless. There is no Facebook group like the one described in the message. Several groups using the same or very similar names have been created, but only in response to this warning message. These are not pedophile groups but simply poor taste prank groups designed to capitalize on the reaction caused by the original warning message. Posting this warning to other Facebook users is utterly pointless.

The message is very short and concise and looks like:

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Fox 4 news reported... ATTENTION !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
do not join the group that runs currently on facebook with the title "becoming a father or mother was the greatest gift of my life" This is a group created by pedophiles whose aim is to access your photos!!!!!!!...!!!!! Please rotate ...this post to all Your Friends on Facebook xx

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Beware! Its a Cyber World - - Explanation:

This rather breathless message has been rocketing around social networking website, Facebook for several weeks. It warns Facebook users not to join a group named "becoming a father or mother was the greatest gift of my life" because it is operated by pedophiles. Supposedly these dastardly individuals want users to join their group so that they can then gain access to photographs that the users have on their Facebook profiles, some of which may depict children.

However, this warning is utterly pointless. It is nothing more than a hoax and has no basis in fact. I began researching this "warning" very soon after it first started to circulate. At that point, there was no such group on Facebook. Predictably, however, pranksters apparently could not resist creating such groups entirely in response to the bogus warning message. In short order, several Facebook groups were created that used names derived from the name specified in the original warning message. Although in poor taste, these groups are not pedophile groups, but simply pointless pranks designed, apparently, to provoke a reaction from Facebook users. Unfortunately, the creation of such prank groups has given totally undeserved credibility to the original warning message and ensured that it continues to spread.

To add to the confusion, other groups have been created which have the sole purpose of protesting against the pedophile group discussed in the original warning. Since this pedophile group never existed in the first place, these protest groups are beyond pointless. These groups - both copy-cat and protest - tend to spring up and disappear quite rapidly. Joining such groups just encourages such pranksters and helps to continue the spread of such nonsense.

Some versions of the hoax message claim that the warning was reported by Fox News. However, this claim is false. The warning has not been reported by Fox News or any other credible news outlet.

In any case, if you take reasonable precautions to keep your Facebook profile information private, simply joining a Facebook group is not going to give the group creator access to your photographs. Moreover, pedophiles would tend to be much more canny and clandestine with regard to their activities. They are hardly likely to create a publicly accessible Facebook group that clearly identifies them as criminal pedophiles. As every parent and guardian should be aware of, pedophiles certainly do use Facebook to attempt to communicate with and "groom" potentially vulnerable youngsters. If we are going to allow children to use Facebook at all, then, as parents and guardians, we should carefully monitor what contacts they are making and what information and images they are sharing. However, spreading around utterly pointless warning messages like the one discussed here does nothing whatsoever to address the real and important issue of children's safety online.

Sadly, Facebook is becoming more and more a vector for the spread of half-truths, misinformation and outright nonsense. Before posting on a warning message that you have received via Facebook, please take a few moments to check its veracity via a credible source.

Risky Information Being Posted by 52% of Social Network Users - - Seven Things You Need To Stop Doing On Facebook

More than half of all social network users post information that puts them at risk of becoming a victim of cybercrime, according to a new study from Consumer Reports.

The publication’s “Annual State of the Net” report, conducted by the Consumer Reports National Research Center, also found that Americans have lost some $4.5 billion to cybercrime during the past two years, including replacing 2.1 million computers that have been compromised by malware.

The report based its findings on a survey of 2,000 online households conducted in January. Nine percent of social network users experienced some form of abuse within the past year, including malware infections, scams, identity theft or harassment.

Fifty-two percent of adult social network users have posted personal information that increases their risk of becoming a victim of cybercrime, the survey found. The numbers include those who have posted their full birth date (38 percent), photos of children (21 percent), children’s names (13 percent), home street address (8 percent) and even details of when they are not at home (3 percent).


The report, published in the June issue of Consumer Reports, cites seven things that users of Facebook and other social networks must stop doing immediately. They include:

1. Using a Weak Password:

The report suggests avoiding names or words that can be found in the dictionary. Use a random mix of at least eight upper and lower case letters and numbers;

2. Listing a Full Date of Birth:

Never list a full birth date (month, day and year). Only list a month and day – or none at all;

3. Overlooking Privacy Controls:

Facebook users can limit access for almost everything they post, but not everyone makes full use of these controls;

4. Posting a Child’s Name in a Caption:

Don’t use children’s names in photo tags or captions. If someone else does, delete it by clicking “Remove Tag.”

5. Mentioning being away from home: Doing so is like putting a “no one’s home” sign on your door, the report said. Be vague about vacation dates.

6. Being Found by a Search Engine:

To help prevent strangers from accessing a profile, go to the Search section of Facebook’s privacy controls and select “Only Friends for Facebook” search results. Be sure the “Public Search” isn’t checked.

7. Permitting Youngsters to Use Facebook Unsupervised:

Facebook limits membership to people ages 13 and older. If a young person is allowed to use Facebook, an adult in the same household should become an online friend and use their e-mail as the contact for the account in order to receive notification and to monitor activity.

Social Networking Has Given New Horizons to Cyber Criminals

The rise of social networking has given rise to a whole new species of cyber criminals, experts warn.

When people sign up on Facebook, for example, they tend not to think twice about putting in their birth date. But combine that with all sorts of other personal data in your profile — contact info including phone numbers and e-mail addresses, job details and sometimes even an address — and someone with less-than-good intentions could possibly wreak havoc in your name.



Agence Presse-France reported on the Campus Party gathering of "Internet enthusiasts" in Valencia, Spain. Asier Martinez, a security specialist at global IT solutions provider Panda Security, told the crowd gathered that they weren't just the personal data they put on the sites that put them at risk. It sometimes was just a matter of being a member of the sites and trusting links sent to you by friends.

Take the Koobface virus, which hit Facebook and Twitter users last year. "Its spread has been very significant and it has been detected in 4,000 different variants," Martinez told AFP. It hijacks the accounts of affected users and uses them to send messages to all their friends. Friends who clicked on the links sent by Koobface were directed to malware sites and were themselves infected, continuing the cycle. The malware could then rummage through infected users' computers, stealing personal data.

Because the messages were sent by long-time, personal friends in many cases, the users who clicked on the links had less reason to be cautious than if they'd clicked on a random shortened link sent by a stranger.

Then there are the free quizzes, horoscopes & games, as well as birthday and holiday greetings that look like they come from friends but hide links to malware sites. Even so, Facebook says less than 1 percent of its users have been affected since it started in 2004.

Laura Garcia, an Internet Security blogger, said to be wary of people you don't know who send friend requests. That person just might be a hacker. And hackers today aren't just teens who want to show they're smarter than everyone else. There are "real cyber-crime mafias," she said.

"Now you don't really need to know much about information technology to be a hacker, all the tools have already been created," she told AFP. The groups are most active in Russia, China, Brazil and Ukraine.