Is that really his Facebook profile?

Last week, Facebook discovered a host of new, identical profiles which were created by cybercriminals and designed to spread malware.

A large number of identical profiles were red-flagged, the only difference between them being names. Each profile had a link to what appeared to be a personal video but which instead displayed a fake antivirus alert when clicked.

It is the classic online scam which is designed to con the unsuspecting user into paying for unnecessary, fake anti-virus software they have absolutely no need for. The scammers then have credit card info for ID fraud purposes.

It is understood that the malicious link was blacklisted by most browsers and Facebook was blocking the URL from being shared on its site as it worked quickly to eradicate the fake profiles.

The CAPTCHA system which validates authentic profiles when people sign up appears to have been breached by scammers. This follows on from a recent breach to the CAPTCHA system through Twitter.

The story comes as news that The FBI now ranks cybercrime among its top priorities and many believe that it is something that NATO member states should be collectively working to eradicate. Social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter have even overtaken government websites as the most attacked by cybercriminals.

Reports last week also suggested that with the release of Google Wave several fraudulent sites now appear in search results for queries like “Google wave invitation”. In doing so, the internet savvy can be tricked into visiting these websites and cybercrime further extends its web.

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Image credit: CarbonNYC