Tuesday 11 October 2011

Sneaky links

I received an e-mail from admin@facebook.com:

Hi,
Be informed that we have upgraded for new features like webcam chat and more. Log in to the link below to upgrade your Facebook account and enjoy the new Facebook.
Click on the link below. If nothing happens when you click on the link, right click on the link and click "Open":

To upgrade your Facebook account, follow the link below:
http://www.facebook.com/r.php?re=41f24b51e8d97b79139af61317fc0de5&mid=d50ff8G228ccee6G238eeffG46
Thanks,
The Facebook Team


People have been repeatedly told not to click on links you have received in an e-mail from someone they do not know personally. Okay, I rickrolled you. But what if that link would not have been to the famous video?

The copied letter had Facebook logo and backround, and it even had the disclaimer of please click to unsubscribe, so it could have very easily fooled me, if I didn't know that sites do not message and ask to log on. And of course, when you hover over the link, the status bar tells you where the link leads, and it led to http://rssemily.cz/cache/www.facebook.com/login.php (don't go to this address).

And similaly to my ingenious rickroll, there has been a somewhat of a new trend to trick people like this. The example of this Facebook password fishing I copied was of very high quality, I mean, as far as fishing goes. But I have also recieved letters like (abuse of grammar intended):

hi how are you. i remember you always used to tell me you had trouble with you weight well i found this new diet that really works bbc.com/news/weight.html


See? Seemingly it leads to a trustworthy site, but it really leads to my Facebook profile. So, beware of scams like this.