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Thursday, February 24, 2011

WARNING: <b>Weight Loss</b> Posts Hijack Facebook Accounts

The latest scamware circulating on Facebook appears to hijack people’s accounts to post fake testimonials about weight loss pills. I just received one from a friend who’s never had a weight problem in his whole life and spells and punctuates far better than what showed up on my wall:

My friend hadn’t clicked on the Facebook page for this diet regimen, but the spam went on several of our walls with his name on it. Friends commented that they recognized the true nature of these posts and got rid of them. I checked out the source using my shadow account (specially set up so I can investigate spamware without posting unwanted garbage on my contacts’ walls). Clicking on this so-called sponsored weight loss product led me to a page promoting acai berry supplements.

The text highlighted in yellow leads to a website called ClickSlimStore. The site sells bottles of vitamin supplements starting at $59.95 for one bottle and going up to $299.95 for six.  I wonder whether these products all initiate monthly subscriptions that you have to opt out of to prevent your credit-card from getting billed.

If you seen any fake testimonials show up on your own wall or those of your friends, be sure to delete them to prevent exposure to further spam or malware. The scheme doesn’t appear to install any rogue applications on your profile, but it’s still a good idea to double-check. Click on “privacy settings,” then “apps, games and websites,” and finally select “remove spammy apps.”

Have you seen any of these rogue postings — or other incidents of apparent post hijackings?


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