Cape Town - If you get a message on Facebook that says “Look who died”, don’t click on it unless you want your account to perish.
A digital security expert has said that Facebook scams and fraud are on the rise following news of the latest attention-grabbing scam on Facebook.
In the scam people have received and opened “Look who died” messages only to find afterwards that they have been robbed of personal data.
The scam targets Facebook users seeking information about the death of a friend or celebrity.
When you click on the link, it doesn’t redirect you to a news article with more information, but rather a malware virus is downloaded to their computer or device.
Essential Security Against Evolving Threats expert Carey van Vlaanderen warned that as more people use Facebook, scammers are finding ways to exploit the platform for their “malicious activities.”
Van Vlaanderen, the CEO of ESET Southern Africa, said: “They use tricks like impersonation, fake promotions and spreading malware to deceive and defraud users.
“These scams can result in financial loss and identity theft.”
Using the malware virus, scammers can access your Facebook account to send more “Look who died” messages to your friends list.
Van Vlaanderen said that this latest scam shows that hackers have the ability to impersonate Facebook friends.
Asked how Facebook users could determine if a message was genuine or from a hacker impersonating their Facebook friends, Van Vlaanderen said the first thing was to always be cautious of unusual requests or sensitive information being asked for.
She said another way to confirm a Facebook friend’s identity was to check for signs of a compromised account, like sudden profile changes or strange posts.
The advice from Van Vlaanderen on how to protect against malware attacks on Facebook comes shortly after experts from the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) painted a bleak picture of continuous cybercrime attacks locally.
This has been attributed to the era of digitalisation which has bred a significant increase in cybercrime, even while making people’s lives easier.
CSIR cybersecurity systems research group leader Billy Petzer said cyber attacks cost the country at least R2.2 billion a year and that the country was the eighth most targeted country for ransomware.
Petzer said that as a result of cybercrime, national government institutions, large corporations and small and medium-sized businesses are at risk of financial and data loss, identity theft and cyber extortion.
Last week, the provincial legislature was the victim of a cybersecurity breach that rendered its information and communication technologies (ICT) services inaccessible.
ANC chief whip Pat Lekker has since submitted a motion calling for a debate on the cyberattack and she accused the leadership of the legislature of not being open and transparent about the extent of the attack.
Meanwhile, Erhard Brand, research and development lead at IT authentication company Entersekt, said digital privacy was shifting how companies handle personal and biometric data.
Brand said: “As people become more concerned about their privacy, allowing them to take ownership and feel in control helps create an environment where trust can be built.”
mwangi.githahu@inl.co.za