Phishing E-mails Impersonating Facebook on the Prowl

Security specialists are warning of phishing e-mails, which are captioned "Unblock Government" and seem as messages from Facebook, published softpedia.com dated September 30, 2013.

The e-mails, which wrongly spell government as 'goverment,' caution the recipient that his Facebook account is about to get disabled following a report about it by someone. They state that possibly he has posted a picture which may harm or insult others, while it's also possible he's written some rough content. However, this warning will be withdrawn provided he validates his Facebook account. To validate, he must follow a given web-link.

The e-mails continue that the validation must be done in 24-hrs, failing which the company will consider the report as real so his account will be disabled for good.

Nevertheless, the e-mails aren't any Facebook communication. They're simply phishing e-mails, which attempt at duping unwitting Facebook members, so they'll divulge their account credentials along with their financial and other personal information to Internet fraudsters.

In particular, if anyone clicks the web-link, he'll be led onto one bogus Facebook page where he'll be directed for logging in via entering his e-mail id as well as password. Further, if the phishing scam takes up other forms, he maybe directed for entering additional sensitive data, like ID, contact or credit card particulars.

This entire information when entered are sure to land up with the scammers, who can then utilize it for compromising the victim's Facebook A/C followed with committing ID-theft and card fraud. Ordinarily, the process involves the scammers gaining admission into the hijacked A/C, blocking the actual account-holder from accessing it, renaming the A/C as "Unblock Goverment" as well as utilizing it for executing another wave of phishing campaign, the specialists outline.

Meanwhile, it was in July 2013, when the bogus electronic mails impersonating Facebook began, although they continue to hit people's inboxes.

It's therefore advisable that if anyone has been victimized with the scam, he should instantly alter his Facebook password. In case he has also given away his financial data then he should monitor his bank account closely. Overall, such messages must be wholly ignored.

» SPAMfighter News - 10/8/2013