Caution: A Facebook virus is lurking back

A long time ago, Facebook users had been known to a utility which could theme their Facebook accounts, both online and on the mobile app.

However, the Facebook theme or colour changing utility turned out to be a scam. The utility was just a gimmick which impresses users to change the theme of their Facebook page to a desired colour from the regular blue to black, pink, green and a few more.

The utility is actually a hacker’s phishing tactic, and when installed, you would be taken to a phishing site where you would be asked for your Facebook credentials, thus allowing the hacker to get hold of your account.

Cheeta Mobile’s CM Security labs were one of the first ones to blow the whistle on this scam. Their researchers found that the main problem was a vulnerability that lives in the Facebook’s app page itself. This vulnerability allows the hacker to plant malicious codes and viruses into the Facebook user’s page. These codes then direct the user to a phishing site which mimics the Facebook original URL, making the user think he/she is in the official website to help change the theme of the Facebook page.

The phishing site informs the user to watch a video of a tutorial on how one can change the Facebook page colour. While the user is engrossed in the video, the hacker gains access to the user’s page in the background and hunts for stuff such as friend list, sensitive data, pictures, contacts and much more.

If the user does not click to watch the video, the hacker has another trick up his sleeve—allowing him/her to use the malicious utility to change the colour.

The hacker uses different stunts to attract the user to the phishing website. On a PC, he will direct you to download a porn video player, while on a mobile app, he will inform you that the smartphone has a virus or it is too slow and takes you to download another scanning app.

Those unaware of this scam and who have already fallen prey should get their devices scanned using a good antivirus. Those who have been hearing about it and haven’t tried it as yet are advised to stay away. Majority of the youth using the social networking portal are the main targets. As of now, more than 10,000 people have been affected.

PC users can watch this video on how you can remove the virus.