Blog & Company News
Aug 13, 2014
The Facebook Color Change Scam Is Back
NO - you cannot change the color of Facebook. Well... you
can (at your own risk), but that app you just downloaded, it's a scam.
Cheetah Mobile, security software researcher and provider, was the first to confirm the reemergence of the hack. The scam appears as a Facebook app that can be shared or posted on the News Feed. So far, more than 10,000 people have been tricked into downloading the malware, according to the
Cheetah Mobile Security blog post.
Upon clicking the link from the News Feed, users will be directed to a phishing site that poses as a legitimate, Facebook-sponsored page. Once on the phishing page, users will be prompted to watch a tutorial on how to change the color of their Facebook profile page. By agreeing to watch the video, users grant hackers access to their profiles, allowing the app to spam their friends. PC users who skip the video will be led to download a pornography video player, and smartphone users to download an antivirus app. Both are infected with malware.
Luckily, the malicious app is easy to get rid of. Those infected need only to remove it from the Facebook app settings page. Affected users should also change their Facebook password. For more information, check out
Cheetah Mobile's complete breakdown of the virus.
NO - you cannot change the color of Facebook. Well... you can (at your own risk), but that app you just downloaded, it's a scam.
Cheetah Mobile, security software researcher and provider, was the first to confirm the reemergence of the hack. The scam appears as a Facebook app that can be shared or posted on the News Feed. So far, more than 10,000 people have been tricked into downloading the malware, according to the Cheetah Mobile Security blog post.
Upon clicking the link from the News Feed, users will be directed to a phishing site that poses as a legitimate, Facebook-sponsored page. Once on the phishing page, users will be prompted to watch a tutorial on how to change the color of their Facebook profile page. By agreeing to watch the video, users grant hackers access to their profiles, allowing the app to spam their friends. PC users who skip the video will be led to download a pornography video player, and smartphone users to download an antivirus app. Both are infected with malware.
Luckily, the malicious app is easy to get rid of. Those infected need only to remove it from the Facebook app settings page. Affected users should also change their Facebook password. For more information, check out Cheetah Mobile's complete breakdown of the virus. 
