Facebook malware scam warning

A warning on Facebook with an example of one of the scam messages a user had received.

Facebook users are being targeted by a scam that tricks people into thinking they've received a video from a friend.

Kiwis have been reporting receiving mail within the messenger app from a friend that has their first name, the word video, then a short web link.

But it's actual a link to an external website that starts downloading malware onto your computer, NetSafe executive director Martin Cocker says.

He says any form of malware could be delivered by the scam.

NetSafe had not received direct reports of people being affected but were aware that people were talking about the message.

The best advice was to be aware the scam was going around and to have an up-to-date security system on your computer to combat any malware, he says.

He also advised people to contact people who appeared to have sent links to confirm it was them - or not.

People were likely to trust links sent to them from within Facebook because they assumed a social media network was secure.

That was part of the reason cyber criminals targeted social media networks in such a manner.

Cocker says you could tell people to not click links in messages but that was challenging when receiving a link from a friend was so common.

-Stuff

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