A shocking video of a man in a wheelchair falling down an elevator shaft? Is that really what you want to watch?
Well, if it is, then you’re just the kind of person that a newly-discovered Facebook scam is looking for.
Messages on the social network have been seen like the following:
Man in wheelchair falls down the elevator shaft *SHOCKING VIDEO*
[LINK]
This Video is really shocking. a man in a wheelchair is falling down the elevator shaft.
If you’re curious enough to click on the link you are taking to a Facebook page which looks like it is about to show you a video.
But think twice about clicking on the play button! The webpage will take your mouse click and silently use it to say that you “Like” the page and share it with your friends.
As far as your friends can tell, you’ve just shared a link to a shocking video of a man in a wheelchair falling down an elevator shaft.
Those people who are running addons like NoScript (on Firefox) will see a page intercepting the clickjacking.
The point of the scam is to draw traffic to online surveys – which earn the scammers commission and, in some cases, tricks users into signing up for premium rate mobile phone services.
If you are hit by a scam like this you should remove the page from the list of pages that your Facebook profile likes. Remember to remove any other pages you don’t remember liking at the same time.
The Pages that you like are shown at the bottom of the Info tab, under Activities and Interests. You may have to click on “Other pages you like”.
Also, remove it from your newsfeed, reporting it as spam to Facebook, so that you no longer share the offending link with your friends.
If you’re a Facebook user and want to keep up on the latest threats and security news I would recommend you join the Sophos Facebook page – where more than 100,000 people regularly discuss the latest attacks.
