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April 4, 2012 - There is a new, and very sophisticated scam that targets Facebook users. The scam inserts a variety of log-on screens into the browser of users who have logged-on to their Facebook accounts. Consumers who fall for the scam will find out too late that they have provided the crooks running it everything they need to run up their credit card bills to the maximum amount available.
This scam was found by the cyber-security people at Trusteer. What they found was a version of malware, called Ice IX, that uses a method called "injection". This method inserts a variety of screens into the browser window of Facebook users. These screen request information concerning credit card numbers, billing addresses, credit card security codes, card expiration dates, etc…
The screens appear to be generated by Facebook. Users are told that Facebook needs the information to help protect their security. Nothing could be further from the truth.
There are several things that Facebook users need to be aware of in order to avoid becoming victims of this scam. First, Facebook is free to users. The company doesn't ask users for credit card information to setup or maintain their accounts. Second, Facebook users who run antivirus/antimalware software with real-time protection on their computers may be able to avoid the problems associated with this scam. And finally, the screens currently being used to collect information in this scam ask for the credit card "expiry" data. "Expiry" is a regional colloquialism commonly associated with countries in South Asia. This type of grammatical issue is common in many scams and it is a good indicator that something is wrong if you see it on an American website.
If you are interested in taking a look at the actual screens used in the scam, you can do so by clicking here.
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Fraud and Scams 
