Beware of Facebook’s ‘dislike button’ scam

LONDON - Facebook’s troubles seem never ending - now users are being targeted by a rogue application for access to their profiles - following which they are offered to have a ‘dislike’ button installed.

The scam, then posts spam messages, and even lures users into completing surveys for which the scammers are paid money.

“One thing we commonly see is that the message starts ‘OMG, shocking video’,” the BBC quoted Graham Cluley of security firm Sophos, as saying.

“And they appear to come from your Facebook friend, giving it a ringing endorsement,” he added.

The scam prompts users to download an application with a message that reads ‘Download the official DISLIKE button now’ and if the user allows the access, it prompts them to install a rogue application, which does not function as a dislike button.

Instead, it updates the user’s page with a link and a message: “I just got the dislike button, so now I can dislike all of your dumb posts lol!!!”

Cluley said that the surveys seem to be from genuine companies but Ron Sharpp, CEO of FaceMod, told BBC News that his company was “in no way affiliated with the online scams”.

“In response, we’ve taken efforts to remind our users that those are not official posts and warning users not to download any version of our add-on from an alternate source,” he added.

The company has asked issued a warning via its Facebook page, and said that the site has a “very quick process in place” to make sure that links and rogue applications were taken down quickly.

But Cluley said that although Facebook could respond quickly, it should police the development of rogue applications more closely. (ANI)