LifeLock Blog

Facebook has constant malware attacks that most can void simply by not allowing the application access to their account. This recent malware attack, piggybacking on Charlie Sheen’s recent publicity, is much like the others except it uses a technique called click jacking to make it a little bit more effective.

The scam works like this. You see the article posted by a friend with a catchy title like “RIP! Charlie Sheen Found Dead at his House.” You click it and it takes you to a page that looks much like Youtube but isn’t. If you click anywhere on the page the malware gains access to your Facebook profile and it will start to post itself to others profiles. This is followed by a survey, that to this day I don’t know why people fill out, and then some reports of an actual virus that installs itself onto your computer.

If you click this link all you need to do is go to Account>>Privacy Setting.  In the bottom left you will see a section called ‘apps and websites’ click the link that says Edit your settings. Find the recent addition and remove the application’s access to your account. Then find the posts it made to friends walls and your own and remove them. That should take care of it.

You would think people would learn that you shouldn’t click on everything you see on the internet and on Facebook, but we constantly see people who refuse to learn this lesson. If people were smart enough not to fall for these tricks hackers would move on to something else. Another Facebook scam similar to all the others is using the super popular pop star Justin Bieber as it’s bait.

The malware works like most of the other on Facebook that make it through Facebook’s filters. There’s some kind of link that has eye catching title in this case “OH MY GOD!…Justin BIEBER Hits Girl For NO Reason! OMG! This Is So Badd!” When people click on it they are taken to a page that has a picture of a girl next to the Fox logo and a big invitation to “click here.” When you do you have to approve an application and will out a information forum. While you are filling out the forum the application is sending altered versions of the scam to your friends and to your wall.

The scam is all too familiar and should be to pretty much any Facebook user by now. The information gained form the users profile and form is used to make money for the creators of the Facebook malware. Who knows what they do with the information you gave them, perhaps could be used to steal someone’s identity, but you can’t assume it’s for anything productive.

If you have fallen for one of these Facebook malwares make sure to remove the application from the Applications and Websites page under Privacy Settings. This will prevent it from further spreading itself to your friends.

I’m sure most people are aware that you shouldn’t just click any link that is sent to you because there is always the possibility that it’s a virus or some kind of malicious software. People are also getting use to Facebook spam and scams as they become more prevalent, but what about Facebook chat? Would you trust a link sent from a friend on Facebook chat? If your answer was yes you probably shouldn’t because over the weekend Facebook chat had a outbreak of spam messages.

Messages sent over Facebook chat from one of your friends reads, “LOL is this you? and is accompanied by a link. You click the link, intrigued by the question, and disappointingly you end up at a 404 page. Well, what really happened is the website compromised your account and is now sending this message to all your friends who are online. This scam is very similar to the Twitter “LOL this you?” scam back in February.

Scams like these are designed to spread like wildfire and expose your profile and all the information it contains. You should always be suspicious of messages like these and question the person before clicking links you don’t recognize. When in doubt just don’t click the link. You don’t want scammers to have your information on your Facebook profile that could be used to steal your identity one day.

A CPN is a Credit Privacy Numbers, a nine-digit numbers that act as a social security number. It’s designed to protect the borrowing and personal history of the person holding the CPN. Ever since Congress made the law that legalizes the numbers it has been viewed as a loophole for several reasons.

Identity Thieves have been selling CPNS of children and because they are not SSN and are only used to obtain credit for some reason it’s not illegal to sell them quite yet. A person is responsible for credit applied for using either their SSN or CPN so when thieves sell people CPNS that aren’t their own it’s going on someone else’s credit. I assume that using someone else’s CPN is illegal but actually selling them isn’t from what I have read.

This could be a big problem in the future, but I’m assuming that a law will popup that will fix the loophole and make the selling of CPNs illegal. For now if you are in need of a CPN don’t purchase it online. Contact an attorney and have them apply for one though the federal government’s social security office.

A new scam has emerged effecting people using online dating sites. Online scammers have been using photos of U.S. Soldiers and creating online dating profiles in order to scam woman out of money. The scammers have even use photos of soldiers who have died over seas.

Scam starts on dating sites when a relationships forms between the thieves and their victims. After a relationship and trust has been built with the victim, the scammer will ask for money to purchase laptops, phones and transportation fees. They will try and explain to the women that their units don’t have phones, or that they need money to help keep the unit’s Internet going. The thieves also ask the victims for money to purchase leave papers, or to help pay for their flight home.

There have been several reports of this scam and it seems it’s only getting bigger. Hundreds of people have already reported being victims to this scam. Unfortunately there is little or nothing the FBI, the State Department, the Federal Trade Commission or the National White Collar Crime Center can do about the scam. The thieves are mobile and are operating outside of the country, most likely using internet cafes in different locations.

The army has no jurisdiction in the matter either, because the thieves are not actual soldiers. It is believed that the perpetrators are most likely from Ghana, Angola and Nigeria. To date no service member has incurred any financial damages do to this scam, but civilians have lost thousands.

Online dating websites are more popular than ever, and can be a great way to meet people. I’m sure many of you know at least one person who has married someone after meeting them using an online dating website, but keep in mind that scammers are always out there and you should never send money to people you have met online.

If you have diabetes you might want to take notice of an identity theft scam that has been developing. The scam first showed its ugly head in Mississippi when diabetics began receiving calls from people who claimed they were representatives of Diabetes Foundation of Mississippi and the American Diabetes Association.

The scammer would convince the person that they were a legitimate representatives for the organization and then ask for personal information like social security numbers, dates of birth and credit card information. This particular scam is more effective than other like it because somehow the scammer knows the victim is a diabetic.

The Diabetes Foundation of Mississippi and the American Diabetes Foundation have reported these complaint to the Consumer Protection Division of the Mississippi Attorney Generals Office. So far Mississippi is the only state that has reported this particular scam, but there is always a possibility that it could spread to other states.

Organizations like Diabetes Foundation of Mississippi and the American Diabetes Foundation will never initiate a phone call or any email correspondence to update, confirm, or ask for personal information. If you receive a phone call or email to this effect you should disregard it and report it to the appropriate authorities. If there is ever any doubt of the legitimacy of the person on the phone simply find the organizations contact information and call them to confirm you are actually talking with the organization.

It has become apparent that scam artists will follow the headlines to take advantage of any situation. Like during the presidential election when a scammer put out a fake video of Obama, which had a virus attached. The situation in the gulf is not exception, which is apparent by the several warnings by the FTC.

The FTC is warning people that they have received reports of scammers posing as BP’s authorized claims administrator. Other scams include charity scams, contractors scams, and Insurance scams.    When it comes to insurance scams, scammers want you to pay a fee to expedite their claims service. These people obviously don’t work for BP and in fact BP doesn’t even charge a fee for placing claims. There are still other reports of scammers posing as government officials trying to collect a processing fee for government services. The government In fact, also, doesn’t require a processing fee.

Insurance scams have also been reported and people need to how to spot a fake and when to be suspicious. When dealing with people claiming to provide insurance make sure they are an authorized representatives of BP. You should report anyone who is making false or exaggerated insurance claims as well as anyone who is making insurance claims but lives outside the disaster zone.

You should also be aware of the charity scams. Some of these scams are using the internet to take in donations for legitimate environmental organizations. They often ask for donations via email and social networking sites. Check with the Better Business Bureau before you make an donations, to ensure your contribution makes it to the actual organization. Keep in mind that charities don’t make a habit of pressuring people to give money. If you experience this look for a different charity.

It’s a great thing to want to help with the disaster in the gulf, but don’t be taken advantage of. If you are looking to file a claim regarding the spill make sure you are speaking with a legitimate representative before signing anything. Remember that there are no fees associated with filing or processing a claim so don’t be fooled.

Facebook is a great place to connect with friends and family and stay connected and communicate. Scammers also know this and will try and use that to their advantage. Facebook scams and distress scams are not a new thing but putting them together is a bit of a change and the public is starting to see them more ofter.

A distress scam is a scam where the thief will pose as your friend or family member and tell you that they have been robbed and need you to send them money. They typically say that are in another country  and need you to use Western Union to send them money. This scam has been going on for some time but adapting this scam to Facebook makes things a little more interesting.

A scammer gets a hold of your friends Facebook account and uses the Facebook chat to IM you. They tell you the whole story about being in London, or some other country, and how they got robbed and have no money or phone to use. They ask for a wire transfer and I think you know how the rest of the scam goes.

Of course this sounds outlandish to people who are use to the internet, but scammers use the information on your Facebook page to target someone who might fall for it like the elderly. They have all the information they need to find someone that might just send the money before confirming the story is true.

So know what to look for and don’t be taken advantage of. If someone tries this scam on you I would try and confirm the person is even in the country they are claiming to be in! You could also ask the scammer things that only that person would know and is not present on their Facebook page. This is sure to throw the scammer for a loop and most likely make them cut bait and run.

You should contact the person who had their account hacked and tell them to take back control of it, so no one else will be affected.

If you have ever worked in retail or food service industry you have probably heard of secret shoppers or mystery shoppers that come into your store and purchase items from your establishment. They are payed by the companies to rate the quality of the store as well as the service. It’s a pretty sweet deal for the secret shoppers they get paid to go somewhere and buy stuff, but how does one become a secret shopper? The answer isn’t a straight forward one and that is perhaps why secret shopper scams are easy to pull off.

According to the FBI the scam starts by being contacted by email or US mail to apply to be a mystery shopper. Applicants are asked to submit a resume and are told are subject to a background check. The victims are then sent a check to be cashed that will be used to purchase items from retail locations and often times wire transfer locations. The remaining balance from the check is given to the victim as payment. What the victim doesn’t know is that the check they were sent was counterfeit and they are responsible for the total amount of the bad check.

In other versions of this scam victims are asked for bank account information so their payments can be deposited automatically. This of course is not true and know the thief has access to their bank account and can withdraw money.

Things to lookout for! Real secret shopper businesses will never pay you in advance and will never ask for a portion of the money back via wire transfer or any other means. A legitimate company will not charge application fees and will not accept applications online. Do your research and find out what legitimate companies hire secret shoppers. Don’t respond to unsolicited emails and never follow their links.

Theres pre-cautions should keep you safe from this particular scam, and others like it. It’s always a good idea to be a skeptic when it comes to the internet. Believe it or not everything you see on the internet isn’t real.

Scammers will try all kinds of things to rip you off and take your money. One of the recent scams, and not the only one, is on Craigslist and more specificity rental properties. A person claims they own a  house they are offering for rent and will demand a deposit before they will send the keys in the mail. This is of course a scam and you should know what to look for.

The rental scam looks like this, someone is offering a house for rent typically cheaper than it should go for. They want you to make a deposit on the house before they send you the keys in the mail. Why in the mail? Because often times, in this scam, they claim they own the house, but live outside of the country, so they will have to send you the keys in the mail. How convenient for them, they can’t meet you and you can’t see the house because they have the keys and don’t live in the country.

People don’t do business this way! If they do they are dumb because how would you manage a property without a third party. If there were a third party you would be able to verify the house is in fact for rent and they were the owners.

A couple of things to remember when looking for houses for rent on Craigslist. Only deal with local people who can meet with you. Only deal with people who will allow you to pay a visit to the home, which is a good idea anyway. Why would you rent something you have never seen?  These things should prevent you from being scammed on Craigslist.