Scammers Target Account of Facebook’s Investor

It seems as if the worst for the popular social networking site Facebook is not yet over. The security and privacy standards of the site are already in question and now one of its investors and board member has become victim of a Facebook phishing scam. Jim Breyer of Accel Partners fell prey to the scam on May 8, 2010 when his Facebook account was hacked and used to circulate fake e-mails to over 2,300 friends.

The spam in this case came was in the form of an event invitation that read, "Would You Like a Facebook Phone Number?" The e-mail also included a RSVP link. Recipients who clicked on the given link were urged to reveal their login details, which, in turn, resulted in their accounts being hacked in the similar fashion.

Security experts noted said that although a service facilitating users to call their friends from Facebook accounts would not be surprising, it was a hack message. The direct hijacking of Breyer's Facebook account implies that the hacker's aim was to target people in his contact list in a bid to circulate password-stealing scam.

The hack was confirmed by a Facebook spokesperson Larry Yu who said that it was a phishing scam that appeared to have compromised Jim's account, as per the news published by Mashable on May 11, 2010. The matter has now been resolved and the company is actively trying to stop such activities, she added.

This incident clearly indicates that fraudsters have not even spared the Facebook board members. In fact, the hacked Facebook account of Breyer is yet another major blow to the reputation of Facebook concerning the safety and privacy of users. At present, there's a wave of negative sentiments among the Facebook users regarding Instant Personalization's opt-in settings.

Earlier, in a major privacy blunder, live chat sessions of users on Facebook were exposed, following which the company had to disable its chat service.

In the meantime, responding to the recent scam, Facebook has stated that users whose accounts have been hacked will undergo a remediation procedure, where they should take measures to safeguard their account again and learn best practices of online security. They have appealed users to avoid clicking on any suspicious link and thus, help in keeping Facebook safe and secure.

Related article: Scammers Exploit Tax System Resulting in ID Theft

» SPAMfighter News - 5/19/2010