Online fraudsters targeting Facebook users with viruses

ELECTRONIC attacks on websites such as Facebook have tripled in the last 12 months, a report has found.

Experts warned members of social networking websites to be wary of adding friends as it emerged new fake sites are appearing every 4.5 seconds.

This is three times more often than a year ago, according to security firm Sophos.

It said criminals who previously relied on sending "copies" of internet banking websites are now sending viruses through Facebook.

Many of the fake sites download viruses to the user's machine, allowing it to be hijacked to send spam.

Hundreds of thousands of Facebook users were last week hit by the "koobface" virus, which claims to show users a video of themselves.

When they click on the link, malicious software is installed on their PC.

"Anyone falling for this trick is risking turning their computer into a spam-spewing bot, and opening themselves up to the danger of identity theft," said Graham Cluley of Sophos, who wrote the latest report. A bot is a computer being used as an online robot.

"Facebook users seem to think they are within a safe environment, so trust everything that comes to them. That simply isn't the case.

"We have seen a lot of Facebook scams recently, and often they are based on sending mass emails to friends purporting to show a video or picture of them. When the user clicks on the link, hijacking software known as malware is downloaded to their machines."

Once on the user's machine, the virus can scour their hard drive for passwords, or send junk email.

One of the most successful frauds uncovered involves hackers accessing a person's account and waiting until they go on holiday, Mr Cluley said.

The hacker then sends an email to their victim's friends saying they have been mugged, and asking for money. Mr Cluley said: "Because the email is so personal, and the people actually are on holiday at the time, it works very well - we have lots of evidence of people actually giving money."

He warned consumers to treat Facebook as if it were a "normal" site.

"Never just assume an email comes from who it says it does," he said. "Always double check - for instance agree to phone a friend before sending them money. These scammers are incredibly convincing, and will actually hold a conversation with people. It's a very clever, and very worrying, new trend."

Researchers also warned Facebook users to be wary of adding new friends, even if they recognised the name, as hundreds of fake accounts are believed to be in existence. Once they have been added as friends, fraudsters can scour a profile, which often results in enough information to steal an identity.

"Internet users need to become more sceptical and cynical about such messages," the report concluded.

Facebook declined to comment.