Facebook Scams You Need To Know About: The 9 Most Common Hacks and Attacks

by Shaun Zhang

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Given Facebook’s fame, it was only a matter of time before con-artists brought their scams onto the network. Facebook today is infested with dozens of different scams, with increasing reports of users falling victim to foul play. If you’re an avid facebook user, here are 9 common scams that you should look out for, and avoid when they inevitably come your way.

1. Clickjacking

[Source: Cheerleaders Gone Wild Clickjacking Tempts Facebook Users]

Ever seen applications asking you to paste certain chunks of technical (and illegible) code in your browser address bar? This is essentially what clickjacking is; tricking you to paste harmful code in your browser that authorizes foreign access to your Facebook, baiting your curiosity with “Find out who is stalking you!” claims.

2. Fake Friend Requests

Ever get friend requests from strangers? That might be because programmed bots were created to expand a scammer's social network for personal gain. You might think it’s harmless to accept their request, but what you are unaware of is that they might be just looking to send you spam or viruses. We know it’s hard to turn down a friend request from a Megan Fox lookalike, but think about it, are you really that lucky?

3. Phishing

Phishing simply means an attempt to steal your important personal details (credit card info, passwords) by posing as an authorized or trustworthy site. Facebook has had several of such scams, including some tricky ones that resemble a facebook portal asking you to re-login. The best way to spot phishing sites is to look out for unusual-looking URLs in the address bar.

4. Malicious Pages, Groups & Events

Many scam pages exist solely to extract and collect personal information from you. Such pages and groups often try to trick you into inviting your friends to join them or participate in their quizzes (sometimes booby-trapped with phishing schemes) by offering you phony gifts and rewards. Some of these pages may be pose as authentic companies like Microsoft or Apple in order to gain your trust.

5. Fake “Team Facebook” Emails

The real Team Facebook always sends messages telling you they will never ask for personal information such as passwords, and they mean it. If you ever get an email or message from “Team Facebook” asking you for passwords, you can be sure they are looking to steal your personal information.

6. Worms & Viruses

For a content-rich network like Facebook, there are plenty of opportunities to lay mines for worms and other computer viruses. One such example is the koobface worm in 2008, which posed as links to Adobe Flash Player updates and were circulated to disastrous consequences. Although Koobface worms have mostly been stamped out, there are still cases of infection so watch out for those.

7. Western Union Money Scam

An extremely scary scam, this one poses as your friend, sending you a request to urgently transfer cash to him via Western Union (most commonly) or through other wiring services like PayPal. This is where it works best. How do you turn down a friend in need? You don’t, and your money gets stolen. Be very wary when you are asked for money. Tell your friend to call you personally if he needs it that desperately.

8. Unauthorized Surveys

It’s extremely common to take polls and quizzes on Facebook. Everyone does, and it’s not a surprise to see your friend update his status about how he is "Captain America of the Avengers”. It’s fun, but watch out for the kind of quizzes you are taking. Some surveys redirect you outside of Facebook, while others require you to enter personal details such as your contact number before you can view results. Reject these, as most of them are scams looking to get your personal details.

9. Harmful Apps

Harmful apps often look like they are the real thing. They disarm you with images and text that make them look authentic and harmless, whereas in reality they just want to trick you into “allowing” the app. Once allowed, the app now has liberty to send fake announcements and messages to your network of friends. Heard of the infamous “Facebook Shutdown” scam? This was how it originated.

Windows 7 users hit by 'black screen of death'

Frustrated Windows 7 users are facing 'black screens of death' after logging on to their computers, Microsoft have confirmed.

The software giant said they were investigating a disabling glitch that seems to particularly affect its latest operating system.

However, they have denied reports that its latest monthly security update has caused the serious system problems.

Microsoft wrote in a blog posting: 'We have conducted a comprehensive review of the November Security Updates, the Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool, and the non-security updates we released through Windows Update in November.

An artist on the website 'Poorly Drawn Portraits' made this picture of Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer using photos of crashed Windows computers showing the iconic 'blue screen of death'


A close-up of the Ballmer portrait showing the computer screens

'That investigation has shown that none of these updates make any changes to the permissions in the registry. Thus, we don’t believe the updates are related to the 'black screen' behaviour described in these reports.'

It had been suggested by Software firm Prevx that the blank screen problem was caused by the firm's latest security patch.

Prevx said millions of people may have been affected and issued a general fix it said would save many from the laborious process of reloading their machines.

However, they have since retracted this claim and suggested malware could be the culprit.

Prevx's Director of research Jacques Erasmus said: 'We apologise to Microsoft for any inconvenience our blog may have caused.'

Microsoft said that people who are affected by the problem should contact its customer service line.

The 'black screen of death' is a play on the 'blue screen of death' colloquialism used for the error screen that has plagued Windows users over the years.-www.dailymail.co.uk

The Windows 7 software is supposed to make it easier to become connected and share or to sync files

10 Ways to Spot an E-Mail Scam

The increasing flood of e-mail hitting your inbox can lower the guard of even the most cautious person. In the rush to keep up with important notes, it's easier than ever to fall prey to the scam artists and identity thieves who lurk online.

E-mail scams and phishing attempts evolve constantly, hoping to take advantage of the latest trends and current events. Although the e-mails change, the people behind them inadvertently send up the same warning signs again and again. We dug through mountains of spam to find the most prevailing trends. We've collected some actual scam e-mails and highlighted the warning signs to help you spot a hustle the next time one lands in your inbox.

1. Requests for personal information

No legitimate organization will ask for your social security, bank account or PIN number via e-mail – and none will include a link, sending you to a form to enter it. No matter how authentic these emails may look, ignore 'em.

2. Watch for typos or spelling mistakes

Scam artists are street smart, but many flunked basic grammar (or barely speak English). Look for mistakes like inappropriate hyphens or confusing "your" and "you're." If the note has multiple typos or grammatical errors, odds are it's not legitimate.

3. Clickable Web links in e-mails

Don't trust links to Web sites in e-mails. What might look like a legitimate address is often linked to a third-party site that looks official, but is actually run by thieves and scammers. These are the fast track to identity and financial theft.

4. 'Market research' or surveys that ask you for personal information.

Disguising scam e-mails as marketing is a classic ploy. You'll be asked to fill out a survey or enter a contest – requiring you to give personal information or "log on" to your account. Once you've done so, the scammers can use it themselves.

5. Stock tips from random people or companies

Got a "hot stock tip" via e-mail? It's probably a "pump and dump" scheme. The sender already owns shares – and when you and others act on the "tip," the stock price soars and he sells fast – leaving you with virtually worthless shares.

6. Attachments in e-mails from anyone you don't know
It should be common sense, but just in case, we'll remind you again: Don't open an attachment from someone you don't know – even if it appears to be your bank or credit card company. It's almost always a virus or spyware meant to steal your personal information.

7. Wordless e-mails
Some legitimate looking "e-mails" are actually just images. The danger with these is that clicking anywhere in the body takes you to a suspect Web site – where you may be fooled into entering personal information, or the scammer may slip spyware onto your machine.

8. Outdated information

Some scammers like to pose as technical- or customer support from a company you associate with – but fail to keep up with current events. For example, in the example above, the senders forgot that Earthlink bought Mindspring in 2000.

9. Red-flag phrases
If you see the phrases "verify your account," "you have won the lottery" or "if you don't respond within XX hours, your account will be closed," it's a scam – every time. Hit the delete button and don't look back.

10. Generic greetings

While you can't trust every e-mail that knows your name, you can definitely ignore the ones that start "Dear member" or "Hello friend." If your bank or credit card company is writing you, it knows who you are. So do your friends.
- www.switched.com

Conficker Worm Hits U.S. Hospitals, Infecting Computers and Equipment [Viruses]

Cnet says that hundreds of critical hospital devices across the U.S. have been infected by the Conficker worm. The number of hospitals affected wasn't disclosed, but the problem isn't thought to be widespread.

Cybersecurity expert Marcus Sachs broke the news at a security conference in San Francisco, raising the question of what would happen if this were to happen to millions of machines in the medical industry. According to sachs, the devices affected were hospital computers and devices used to control critical equipment, such as heart monitors and MRI machines.

No one is quite sure how the computers acquired the worms to begin with, but most of the Windows 2000/NT machines were to old to benefit from Microsoft's October patch which fixed many of the vulnerabilities Conficker preyed on. [Cnet via Slashdot]

My Comment:

1) Why are critical hospital devices connected to the Internet?. They still have anti-virus programs, for those dumber students who choose to not scan their flash drives. Any critical devices should be kept in quarantine (never connected to the web).

2) Why aren't critical hospital devices updated more frequently if they are connected to the web. I mean, it's not that hard, and it prevents crap like this from happening.

Protect your computer from the Conficker worm

The Conficker worm infects mostly windows machines (2000pro, xp, vista) what it does is it paralyse computer machines from recieving security or antivirus updates, if some how you think you have not updated your machine please do so now, before your machine will be infected by this worm, the creators of the worm have come up with a smart way of exploiting systems using a bot program that will run on April the 1st, this will tell whether your computer is infected with the worm or not.

Things to do to protect your computer from this nasty worm?

Make sure you have the latest microsft patches or hotfixes for your windows operating systems, if not do a manual windows update or a automatic update through your windows control panel settings, And also make sure you have the latest antivirus software which is fully up to date and ready on guard, when startup.

The Conficker worm can also disable important services on your computer.

In the screenshot of the Autoplay dialog box below, the option Open folder to view files — Publisher not specified was added by the worm. The highlighted option — Open folder to view files — using Windows Explorer is the option that Windows provides and the option you should use.

If you select the first option, the worm executes and can begin to spread itself to other computers.

The option Open folder to view files — Publisher not specified was added by the worm.

How to remove rvhost.exe virus/malware from pc?

RVHOST.EXE Is most commonly caused by a worm infection.You shouldn't continue to get this threat once it's deleted, unless you come into contact with it again. May I suggest using caution with flash drives, and dont open things that you are unsure about. RVHOST.EXE also means A lot of viruses/worm sit in RAM, the registry and System Restore.


Solution no.1

First of all turn off System Restore by right clicking on ‘My Computer’ > Properties > System Restore. Now enable “Turn off system restore on all drives” > click apply > click OK.

Reboot your computer in Safe Mode – (achieved by pressing F8 continually during boot up) this should clear out the viruses in RAM and the registry. Now run your anti virus software and delete or quarantine any viruses found.

Reboot your computer in normal mode and complete another virus check. If all comes back clean turn on System Restore.

Free downloads for keeping your system clean:
http://www.emsisoft.com/en/software/free...
http://free.grisoft.com/doc/5390/us/frt/...

Solution no.2

Delete these files if they exist:

C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\RVHOST.exe
c:\windows\rvhost.exe
%all drives%\new folder.exe
C:\Windows\Tasks\At1.job
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curre ntVersion\Run in the registry, and you need delete the entries which contain RVHOST.exe in them, or better yet, change them back to their appropriate paths.
Go to:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curre ntVersion\Policies\System
"DisableTaskManager" = 1 (CHANGE IT TO 0 )
"DisableRegistryTools" = 1 (CHANGE IT TO 0 )

Go to:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curre ntVersion\Policies\Explorer
"nofolderoptions" = 1 (CHANGE IT TO 0)

Go to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\Schedule
"attaskmaxhours" = 0 (CHANGE IT TO 24)

Because this threat may make it unable to access the registry editor, you may need to Merge a .REG Program.

Please go to link below to download the file that will re-enable task manager, folder options, and allow you to use the registry editor.

Link to download file enable regedit.zip : http://www.ziddu.com/downloadfile/2537011/enable_regedit.zip.html

Good Luck !!!

10 Worst Computer Viruses of All Time

Worst Computer Virus 1 : Storm Worm

The latest virus on our list is the dreaded Storm Worm. It was late 2006 when computer security experts first identified the worm. The public began to call the virus the Storm Worm because one of the e-mail messages carrying the virus had as its subject "230 dead as storm batters Europe." Antivirus companies call the worm other names. For example, Symantec calls it Peacomm while McAfee refers to it as Nuwar. This might sound confusing, but there's already a 2001 virus called the W32.Storm.Worm. The 2001 virus and the 2006 worm are completely different programs.

The Storm Worm is a Trojan horse program. Its payload is another program, though not always the same one. Some versions of the Storm Worm turn computers into zombies or bots. As computers become infected, they become vulnerable to remote control by the person behind the attack. Some hackers use the Storm Worm to create a botnet and use it to send spam mail across the Internet.

Worst Computer Virus 2 : Leap-A/Oompa-A

In 2006, the Leap-A virus, also known as Oompa-A, debuted. It uses the iChat instant messaging program to propagate across vulnerable Mac computers. After the virus infects a Mac, it searches through the iChat contacts and sends a message to each person on the list. The message contains a corrupted file that appears to be an innocent JPEG image.

Worst Computer Virus 3 : Sasser and Netsky

Sometimes computer virus programmers escape detection. But once in a while, authorities find a way to track a virus back to its origin. Such was the case with the Sasser and Netsky viruses. A 17-year-old German named Sven Jaschan created the two programs and unleashed them onto the Internet. While the two worms behaved in different ways, similarities in the code led security experts to believe they both were the work of the same person.

Worst Computer Virus 4 : MyDoom

The MyDoom (or Novarg) virus is another worm that can create a backdoor in the victim computer's operating system. The original MyDoom virus -- there have been several variants -- had two triggers. One trigger caused the virus to begin a denial of service (DoS) attack starting Feb. 1, 2004. The second trigger commanded the virus to stop distributing itself on Feb. 12, 2004. Even after the virus stopped spreading, the backdoors created during the initial infections remained active [source: Symantec].

Worst Computer Virus 5 : SQL Slammer/Sapphire

In late January 2003, a new Web server virus spread across the Internet. Many computer networks were unprepared for the attack, and as a result the virus brought down several important systems. The Bank of America's ATM service crashed, the city of Seattle suffered outages in 911 service and Continental Airlines had to cancel several flights due to electronic ticketing and check-in errors.The culprit was the SQL Slammer virus, also known as Sapphire. By some estimates, the virus caused more than $1 billion in damages before patches and antivirus software caught up to the problem [source: Lemos].

Worst Computer Virus 6 : NIMDA

Another virus to hit the Internet in 2001 was the Nimda (which is admin spelled backwards) worm. Nimda spread through the Internet rapidly, becoming the fastest propagating computer virus at that time. In fact, according to TruSecure CTO Peter Tippett, it only took 22 minutes from the moment Nimda hit the Internet to reach the top of the list of reported attacks [source: Anthes].

Worst Computer Virus 7 : The Code Red and Code Red II worms


Worst Computer Virus 8 : The KLEZ Virus

The Klez virus marked a new direction for computer viruses, setting the bar high for those that would follow. It debuted in late 2001, and variations of the virus plagued the Internet for several months. The basic Klez worm infected a victim's computer through an e-mail message, replicated itself and then sent itself to people in the victim's address book. Some variations of the Klez virus carried other harmful programs that could render a victim's computer inoperable. Depending on the version, the Klez virus could act like a normal computer virus, a worm or a Trojan horse. It could even disable virus-scanning software and pose as a virus-removal tool [source: Symantec].

Worst Computer Virus 9 : ILOVEYOU

Who created the ILOVEYOU virus? Some think it was Onel de Guzman of the Philippines. Filipino authorities investigated de Guzman on charges of theft -- at the time the Philippines had no computer espionage or sabotage laws. Citing a lack of evidence, the Filipino authorities dropped the charges against de Guzman, who would neither confirm nor deny his responsibility for the virus. According to some estimates, the ILOVEYOU virus caused $10 billion in damages [source: Landler].

Worst Computer Virus 10 : Melissa

In the spring of 1999, a man named David L. Smith created a computer virus based on a Microsoft Word macro. He built the virus so that it could spread through e-mail messages. Smith named the virus "Melissa," saying that he named it after an exotic dancer from Florida [source: CNN].

Daniel Hulshizer/AFP/Getty Images
A courtroom photo of David L. Smith, the alleged creator of the Melissa virus.

Full Article link : http://computer.howstuffworks.com/worst-computer-viruses.htm