Security researchers like Andrew Conway of Cloudmark have explained how social networking services like Facebook, Twitter, Skype, and text messaging present virtually infinite amounts of targets for even the most obvious hackers, spammers and scammers. However, when dealing with an audience as huge and popular as Facebook, there are enough vulnerable people unaware of the threat of thieves to make the scam worthwhile for the perpetrators. Some may immediately recognize this cheat as the naked and easily avoidable attempt at identity theft that it is. According to Stanescu, the fraudsters can read a computer's IP address to present pages in the appropriate language, and 'they also try to lure people with what the scammers apparently believe are the victims' national interests.' Bianca Stanescu of Bitdefender notes that the fraud tellingly uses a three-year-old, woefully out of date version of their logo.Īll of these sites then assault the user with constant questions trying to wring as much personal information out of them as they can. Meanwhile, the victim is redirected through an endless Hell of surveys, fake downloads, real malware downloads, horoscopes, palm readings, and imitation virus scans including fake versions of Bitdefender itself. It sounds like a steal, but the real theft is happening to the user.Īfter ensnaring someone new in its trap, the fraud's Blogspot domain then promotes itself through the victim's Facebook page.

All they have to do is Like and spread the page by sharing it on other Facebook walls. Knowing this, the scam entices players by offering maxed out food, gold, wood, stone and cash reserves. The purposefully frustrating yet addicting mechanic controls the pace of play keeping players locked into the system. Like many in Facebook games, the economy of Social Empires, from Spanish developer Social Point (Opens in a new window), works by making its over six million monthly users wait or pay real money for the resources needed to proceed. Case in point, 135,000 players of the popular Facebook strategy game Social Empires have recently been scammed through a fake cheat according to Bitdefender's Hot for Security blog (Opens in a new window). However, among these expanding user bases are some more casual players who aren't necessarily the world's most tech-savvy people.

How to Set Up Two-Factor Authenticationįacebook games have amassed huge audiences with their broad, social appeal.How to Record the Screen on Your Windows PC or Mac.How to Convert YouTube Videos to MP3 Files.How to Save Money on Your Cell Phone Bill.How to Free Up Space on Your iPhone or iPad.How to Block Robotexts and Spam Messages.

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