The team behind Panda Antivirus Software and PandaLabs, the anti-malware laboratory of Panda Security, has drawn attention to a number of scams which effectively ‘hijack’ the Facebook “Like” button.

And the trick that the scammers use, say Panda Antivirus Software, is to use eye-catching messages which relate to popular games, or just released movies. Popular topics on Facebook, including links relating to the famous Facebook game Farmeville, are being targeted to lure people into ‘liking’ particular things. This has been given the appropriate sounding name of ‘clickjacking’.

‘Clickjacking’ uses URLs that are malformed and hide a code designed to carry out an attack on a user’s computer. Once you have ‘liked’ the page, it is recommended to all of your Facebook friends without you even realising. Luis Corrons, Technical Director of PandaLabs, warns, “This distribution technique reminds us of computer worms, although this time there doesn’t seem to be any malware behind it (at least yet).”

He continues, “Cyber-criminals can make money just by tricking you into visiting a Web page with ads. Or worse still, they can spread malware and infect you. This possibility has not yet been exploited, but it would be relatively easy and effective to do it.”

PandaLabs advise that Facebook is potentially a minefield of such malicious attacks, and to be wary when ‘liking’ everything that pops onto your Facebook screen. Tests, a popular pastime of users on Facebook, are particularly dangerous to sign up for, especially if they need to be bought. PandaLabs strongly suggests that users do not enter their bank or credit card details onto these sorts of websites.

As these sorts of dangerous links can be found when searching for popular pages – such as movies, games or the keyword ‘sex’ – users of Facebook need to be extra vigilant against this kind of attack. PandaLabs, behind pieces of technology such as the Panda Antivirus Software, urge users not to be hooked by the bait of such popular pages and to be cautious when ‘liking’ the new Sex and the City 2 movie, for example.

Guest Article by Neil Camp