"OMG MOTHER WENT TO JAIL" Facebook Scam Spreads Virally

A new Facebook viral video scam has been uncovered by Sophos, where users are tricked into clicking a poisoned link which gathers their personal information. The exact message reads: "OMG!!Guys, you have to see this: This mother went to jail for taking this pic for her son!

Similar to the recent ‘Never Gonna Drink Coca-Cola Again’ scam, the attack encourages users to ‘like’ a Facebook page, tricking them into sharing the link on their wall before they are able to access the image. When users have completed these necessary steps, a fake security check then appears asking users to take part in an online survey.

The scammers make money from directing traffic to the online surveys, which gather personal information.  In some cases the surveys claim that participants will be sent a free iPad as a prize for participating.

Sophos has produced a video, demonstrating the attack:

"I really feel like despairing that the general public will ever learn to avoid dodgy links like this," said Graham Cluley, Senior Technology Consultant at Sophos.  "Criminals these days don't need to spam out their scams - they can rely on the public to spread them for them. Far too many people are prepared to endorse and share links on Facebook without properly thinking about what they are doing. In this case, they're doing it before they have any clue about what lies behind the page."

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