Phishers Cast Lures Into Facebook's Social Stream

Have you received some odd messages from your friends on Facebook lately? Are they suddenly attempting to sell you pharmaceuticals? Or perhaps you've received a cryptic "Check this out!" followed by a link to a page that looks something like Facebook, only it asks you for your log-in information again? It's a common phishing tactic, and scammers have recently been blanketing Facebook with it.

A new wave of phishing and spamming attacks is hitting Facebook users as scammers attempt to get hold of their passwords, the social networking site acknowledged in a statement.

Similar phishing and spamming scams -- in which messages supposedly from their friends lure victims to a malicious Web site -- have been occurring with greater intensity since the end of April.

The sites typically display a fake, though convincing-looking, Facebook page where users are prompted to input their login information. In addition, spam messages -- supposedly from Facebook friends -- display links to online pharmacies, according to Graham Cluley, senior technical consultant for Sophos.

Facebook is currently attempting to block the links to phishing sites. Site managers are also making efforts to scrub the links from users' Wall posts and reset the passwords of affected individuals.

The attacks are thought to be related to the fbaction.net/fbstarter.com phishing campaign that struck the site a few weeks ago, Facebook said.

"We are generally seeing more and more spamming taking place on social networks -- more than ever before," Sophos' Cluley told TechNewsWorld, "so it's becoming a more common problem."