5 million Facebook accounts in danger! This phishing scam will steal your money- how it works

A huge number of Facebook accounts are in danger as hackers are targetting them with a phishing scam to steal their money! Cyber researchers revealed that a massive phishing campaign has targeted millions of Facebook users worldwide. Researchers warned that the Facebook phishing scam is virally spreading through Facebook Messenger on mobile devices. Surprisingly, the recently discovered phishing attack has been around for over a year. It was exposed by Nick Ascoli of PIXM, which is an anti-phishing browser extension. The phishing attack campaign was explained by tech news website HelpNetSecurity in a video.

Ascoli’s team revealed that a number of devious websites were masquerading as the official Facebook Login page. The worst part is that each such flexuous website had millions of visits which aimed to trick people to steal their Facebook credentials. These links to the malicious websites are being widely shared by Messenger, Ascoli from PIXM explained in the video. He further added that once the Facebook credentials have been compromised by these online fraudsters, then they can easily log in to your Facebook account. It can even be done automatically!

The cyber researcher revealed that attackers have even figured out a way to insert the name of the target into the link to make it look more real. These Facebook logins can lead to accounts with banking information, such as shopping websites, where people usually use Facebook to log in to the website’s portal. However, online attackers who are running this Facebook scam campaign have more devious ways to steal money.

Suppose once a victim has entered his or her Facebook details into the fake website, then they will be redirected to an advertising page. It is mentioned that hackers could even make hundreds of dollars a month from one victim with a successful hit on these fake login pages. 

What you should do to avoid being a victim of the Facebook scam 

• Researchers suggest that if you spot any such suspected online scam messages, then you should avoid clicking on them or any malicious links or attachments.
• Proceed with extreme caution if you feel something is not correct with a message or website. 
• Never provide your Facebook login credentials on unknown pages. 
• You should immediately report to the cybercrime cell if you find any such malicious websites or scams.