Jacquie Bowser, Brand Republic, 11 November 2008, 09:20am

Facebook falls victim to account hijacking scam

LONDON - Nigerian scammers have infiltrated Facebook and are hijacking users' accounts to request money by posing as friends in need.

In the latest scam, Australian Karina Wells received a Facebook message last Friday from one of her friends, Adrian, saying he was stranded in Nigeria and needed her to lend him $500 (£213) for a ticket home.

Wells said 'Adrian' wrote English well but used words such as "cell" instead of "mobile phone", which tipped her off that she was not talking to her friend.

The scammer asked Wells to transfer the money into a Western Union account.

Wells told The Sydney Morning Herald: "Naturally I was concerned as, to all intents and purposes, this seemed to be legitimate.

"I pretended that I would help, obtained all the details of where he was and forwarded them to both Facebook and the relevant authorities."

Experts believe the fraudster obtained her friend's login details through a password-stealing virus, spread through software known as 'malware'.

The fraudsters send a Facebook message from a friend with a subject such as "LOL. Private video with you. Funny".

Once the user opens the message they are encouraged to click on a video clip link that takes them to a bogus web page.

The user is then told to download a video player upgrade before they can view the footage. However, the apparent upgrade is the password-stealing virus.

When the victim next logs into Facebook, the malware message is sent to all of their friends.

A Facebook spokesman said: "Only a small percentage of users have been affected by recent spam attacks. We are updating our security systems."

You must log in to use Clip & Save

All Comments

Axel - 11 November 2008

Tha last paragraph should read: A Facebook spokesman said: "Only a small percentage of users are stupid enough to open a message called "LOL Private Video With You Funny", then download a video player upgrade when prompted. We are updating our security systems."

Carl Martin - 11 November 2008

It does make me laugh at the stupidity of people who actually fall for these scams. Goes to show how little educated people really are about dangers online. No wonder we are a nation rife with paedos stalking children and hackers draining us of our funds. Until people begin to truly understand the internet, this will continue.

Giles Stafford - 11 November 2008

I agree with Carl. A nondescript and all to easy to ignore message from your bank warning you of the dangers of 'phishing' or some other such scam is not enough. Education on these matters is key. My elder and supposedly wiser \(she'd have you know) sister, got cleaned out to the tune of £20,000 by a very simple phishing scam. Personally I can't believe she fell for it, but she did, because she hadn't a clue that these things really exist or how they target you. Well, she certainly won't be doing that again.

Mark Griffiths - 11 November 2008

It's good to know that you guys are so intelligent and street-wise that you will never, ever, ever fall for a scam or be the victims of criminal activity. It's not so good to know that you have very little care for people even close to you who are more vulnerable, for whatever reasons.

Roger OThornhill - 11 November 2008

Anyone who falls for these scams deserves to if you ask me. And those that do should be made to watch Channel 4's Fonejacker. If you put reams of personal information on the web you've got to expect people to want to use it if it's easy to access. Clearly, the people who fell for these low-grade amteurish crimes not only didn't activate their privacy settings, but also suffer from being a bit naive and stupid. They had it coming. Worse crimes happen on the net such as child pornography. Resources and energy should be directed towards serious crimes that prey on real innocents rather than protecting the stupid from themselves.

Carl Martin - 11 November 2008

Mark, the message is we are sympathetic, but we are reiterating a requirement for education on these matters to be made available to the masses! Who says we will never fall for criminal activity? Nowhere in the statement did we make that point. The fact of the matter is if people genuinely believe these emails they receive, it is a clear indication that the appropriate governing bodies are not doing enough to avoid such incidents occuring again!

Jacquie Bowser - 11 November 2008

Not everyone in the world has been educated about internet scams... Some people, older people, may have recently signed up to Facebook etc and are just finding their way. How are they to know that a message addressed to them from a 'friend' is from a fraudster?

Giles has a valid point about education. I don't think we should criticise those who fall for the scams. Instead, perhaps the social networking sites should upload regular warnings for people who aren't that knowledgeable with the digital world.

Roger OThornhill - 11 November 2008

Educating someone on not sending their friend hundreds or thousands of pounds on the basis of a Facebook message which implies a friend had suddenly unbeknown to them fled the country for Africa and was now in a grave danger is ridiculous. IIt's like those unnecessary tube announcements which constantly bombard everyone with 'don't leave your personal belongings on the train'. Yes, I won't thank you very much. That's why they are my 'personal belongings'. The world should not be organised on the basis of making allowances for the most stupid, unquestioning, witless, gullable and careles individuals among us. Because a) it is simply not fair on the sane, intelligent people in society who I like to believe constitute the majority of the population, and; b) you create a world where everyone is absolved of responsibility for their own actions, and c) it makes the world a less pleasant place.

Jacquie Bowser - 11 November 2008

I hear what you're saying Roger, but I'm not just referring to Nigerian scammers asking Facebook users for money. I'm also talking about identity theft and other frauds. If an older user is not that clued up on things, they may enter all their details onto Facebook etc when they're setting up an account \(because there are neat little boxes all set up for you to enter every detail if you wish). Entering this info would not seem like such a stupid thing to a person who didn't know how easy it was for fraudsters to access their account and use their details to take all their money... I certainly wouldn't refer to these people as dumb, merely ill-informed.

Darren Davidson - 11 November 2008

Dear Ms Bowser,

Could you lend me $25,000? I am in grave danger.

Mr Darren

Jacquie Bowser - 11 November 2008

Yes here are my bank details: Sort code: 25112 Acc no. 26356289 Bank: HBOS.

Dominic Bargeton - 11 November 2008

This problem continues to take new forms. Fake Ebay/PayPal emails are causing me considerable hassle! Ref - Carl Martin

"It does make me laugh at the stupidity of people who actually fall for these scams. "

Hardly a fair comment. Facebook is designed for anyone to use and the entire facebook philosophy is Social Networking for anyone. Regardless of tech/web security know how!

AwallafaShagba - 12 November 2008

You would think that a message within Facebook was safe .. hence why this scam has been so widely publicised . . Anyone ^ ^ up there thinking this is funny and that people who fall for this are idiots are plonkers Rodney.

Nicola Lucas - 12 November 2008

Some more helpful guides for Roger:

'To open, remove lid'

'Do not eat' on bleach.

you know without these warnings I wouldn't know how to live.

gotnoteef - 12 November 2008

I had a very nice email from a gentleman called Mr Montgomery James Levi, who, through no form of malpractice or misappropriation of funds \(he assured me of this in his email) has accumulated some £30million that is unfortunately locked away in some african state or other.

This kind gentleman has offered to share this vast sum of money with me if I am able to help him transfer it out of the country. Unfortunately, he cannot ask members of his family to assist, because a surname like Levi stands out and the transactions would be noticed. Hence, through some miracle of good fortune, he has found my email address and decided that I am the one who can help him.

Goodness me - I hear you say - how fortunate that you should be selected by this kindly and \(to all intents and purposes) extremely wealthy gentlemen.

Mr Montgomery James Levi also assured me in his email that I must: "not treat this letter/email as one of the African scam mails because I am for real and have no reason to lie at this my age, so you give me the benefit of doubt."

Well, up until that point I was a little suspicious, but, upon reading his assurance I duly obliged and sent through my account details.

I have since resigned from my job and am whiling away the hours waiting for the huge bundles of lovely cash by sifting through brochures for Sunseeker Ocean Cruisers and Bentley cars.

Happy daze!

Nicola Lucas - 12 November 2008

Wow Adam, extrememly coincidently I recently had an email from a lawyer kindly letting me know that unfortunately a distand relative of mine had died and left a vast fortune, as the deceased had no immediate family this lawyer was on the hunt for anyone who may be related to them to give the money to before it was cruelly snatched by the governement.

I should probably answer him as I don't want this previously unknown inheritance to go to someone else.

AwallafaShagba - 12 November 2008

@ Nicola - I know of this inheritance - If you send me your details i'll be happy to send you the monies.... in 2p's and 1p's

\(George would be pleased with me)

Nicola Lucas - 12 November 2008

What a stroke of luck that you were on this website and know of my inheritance, that has saved me a lot of time and I will send you all my details right away.