The President is finally taking charge? No, a Facebook phishing attack

Filed Under: Data loss, Facebook, Phishing, Privacy, Social networks, Spam

A warning to all the Facebook users out there - the scammers are after your login details again, this time by spreading a link which purports to be a video of Barack Obama.

The president is finally taking charge on Facebook

The president is finally taking charge!!
[LINK]
Is this really for real?.

The image used in the message looks like a YouTube video thumbnail, but if you click on the link you are redirected, via a cross-scripting vulnerability on an MIT webpage and then Reddit, to a phoney Facebook login page.

It may look like Facebook, but it's not the real Facebook. It's designed to phish your username and password from you.

Incidentally, the page is hosted on an almost identically-named domain to one we've previously seen used in a Facebook phishing campaign.

Facebook usernames and passwords are an increasingly valuable commodity for cybercriminals - once they have those, they'll be able to log into your account, post messages in your name, spread spam and malware and perhaps raid your profile for personal information that they might be able to use for identity theft.

Worst of all, perhaps, they can pose as you and cause tremendous problems for your friends and family.

So, if you think you might have fallen for a scam like this, change your Facebook password immediately and scan your computer with an up-to-date anti-virus product.

If you're on Facebook and want to learn more about security threats on the social network and elsewhere on the internet, I'd recommend you join the Sophos Facebook page.

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2 Responses to The President is finally taking charge? No, a Facebook phishing attack

  1. James says:

    These days I recommend using a 40 digit password. Of course what do I know? The only drawback is forget the idea of an easy password to remember. Like bradpitt or 12345.

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About the author

Graham Cluley has worked in the computer security industry for more than 20 years, developing anti-virus software and doing quite a lot of talking about internet threats. He's won awards for his blogging, but is proudest of the text adventure games he wrote when he was still wearing short trousers. You can learn more about those (the games, not the trousers) at grahamcluley.com. Send Graham an email, subscribe to his updates on Facebook, follow him on Twitter and App.net, and circle him on Google Plus for regular updates.