Facebook Dislike Scam

Today a scam circulating around Facebook is targeting users with the promise of a dislike button. When users click it, they are redirected to a Facebook Application, which asks users to install an application that links to a survery. The application itself, if it is allowed to run, posts status updates with links to the application page to lure in unsuspecting users. The detailed article about this scam can be viewed on Sophos website.

It doesn’t stop there… This scam has been circulating under a list of Facebook applications with sensational headlines trying to trick users to run it. The applications we discovered so far was “Bieber Number“. This application promises rabid fangirls across the globe with a chance to acquire Justin Bieber’s personal number.  The application posts to a user’s status page, “Just Bibers personal number LEAKED CALL HIM!!” The application will later post the same Dislike button scam identified by Sophos.

Another application that was discovered is ” ◘◘◘ StreetView ◘◘◘” which promises users to see a video of a, “Couple caught having SEX on Google Street View! Leaked Video.” This of course doesn’t make sense considering Street View is only a panoramic image, not a video per say, (unless they were screencasting, but I digress.) The Street View application will later post a link to the same Dislike button scam.

Using some Google Forensics,  the same status update for “StreetView” was used in another application known as BrainTeaser. About two weeks ago, this application sent around variations of text stating, “THIS man was caught R0BBING a HOUSE on G000GLE Earth!”

Social Engineering Scams through Facebook

This methods used in this scam may not be new, but it’s directly targeting users of specific age groups. We know of the many kids and teens who absolutely love/hate Justin Bieber. Users of this age group may not be computer savvy enough to spot an obvious scam like this. Out of the many who installed this application, we found two female users who realized the application “doesn’t work,” but installed it only because they were bored. None of the users discovered so far realized the application was posting statuses on its own. None of their friends pointed out how the application was a scam.

The second StreetView scam is obviously targeting adult users. We found a slightly higher instance of users identifying how they themselves didn’t post the message. They proceeded to delete the status updates manually.