Spam on Facebook is spreading virally but it seems people are recognizing it before they give the spammer what they want.
Blog posts by anti-virus firm F-Secure suggest that a lot of people follow the initial link bait and ‘like’ a message when prompted to do so to move to the next step. However, clicks don’t equal conversions and the number of people who actually fill out the surveys that earn spammers money is low.
In a recent example, spam links directed Facebook users to a page ”I May NEVER T�XT AGAIN After Reading THI$!!”, which had more than 200,000 likes. Users were told that they had to ‘like’ the page in order to move to the next step. The page then directs you to a Blogger page, where users are told they have to fill out a survey to view the content, although this can be overridden by browser add-ons like Adblock Plus or NoScript. There’s no counter on this page but a similar campaign had a 1% conversion rate from clicks to likes, with even fewer people filling out the surveys.
So there’s no need to panic yet. However, as we reported earlier in the week, Facebook spam does seem to be more effective than email spam. The site has been hit by a wave of spam recently and it doesn’t help that it seems to be sometimes recommending spam profiles in its ‘People You May Know’ box. This could become a huge problem for Facebook unless it finds some solutions quick smart.
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Pages that require you to "like" them in order to "gain" anything violate FB TOS and should be reported as spam. Sorry dudes and dudettes, the only way this spam is going away is when FB kicks off all the people who don't have .edu email accounts and go back to their roots. And since they won't do that, us college students have to make due with .edu only sites. Yeah they may not be as exciting, but they're sure a heck of a lot less creepy and are populated by REAL people.
http://www.collegeonly.com
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http://www.usurvive.com
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http://www.thesquare.com
Comment by Guest — August 31, 2010 @ 4:00 pm
So even though I was a college student once, now that I'm a graduate, I'm no longer a "real" person? And all my friends/classmates from college who I keep in touch with on Facebook are ALSO not "real" people any more? Well, following your logic, in just a few years, YOU will no longer be "real" either. Just thought I'd warn you.
Comment by Melissa Johnson — August 31, 2010 @ 4:49 pm
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Comment by Patrick de Souza Tun — August 31, 2010 @ 11:42 pm
Never ever received spam on FB. Maybe it's because I click "disallow" if an application wants access to my profile? lol
Comment by Doll — September 1, 2010 @ 12:15 am
By that I mean ALL profiles are of real people. There are 0 spambot profiles floating around trying to steal your private information or add you as a friend. On FB if your profile's not in a school or work network, I treat it with suspicion, and I got sick and tired of that; trying to figure out who is real and who isn't. I don't have that problem with college only sites that are restricted to .edu email address holders. It's the gold standard of verification. Something FB lost; credibility.
Comment by Guest — September 1, 2010 @ 6:52 am
"Gold standard". Right. So, if you steal someone's identity, and use it to swipe their .edu account(very easy), then you're magically granted access and considered "reliable" merely because of the extension on your e-mail address.
Excellent logic there!
Or, even simpler yet, there's actually commercial sites that use .edu extension. Not a whole lot of them, but a few. There's nothing in particular keeping those in check.
Even better, the question arises, what qualifies someone to get a university's blessing to have an address on their website? Mere attendance? If that's the case(which, with some places, it is), then all a spammer has to do is sign up for classes. If you can make $10,000 month by paying for a single course schedule and subsequently abusing the email address to gain access to a social network, it's well worth the price of admission.
So, please, can it with the "gold standard" garbage. Restricting to .edu serves no useful purpose, and sites that "don't have any problems" aren't problem-free because they're .edu only sites, they're problem free because they're too insignificant for anyone to make a worthwhile profit there.
Oh, lastly, ps. some students have no use for a given social site, so there are several KNOWN(and admitted) animals(like turtles, ferrets, and squirrels) registered on facebook using the .edu email addresses of people who really had no interest in having a facebook account.
Comment by mmm — September 1, 2010 @ 8:48 am
@Guest The sites you list are all .com sites, not .edu sites. .edu is a top-level domain, not something that applies to any college-related site.
Comment by Caitlin Fitzsimmons — September 1, 2010 @ 4:09 pm
Since you're obviously not a .edu holder, I'm not going to waste my time explaining the system to you or requirements for getting one.
Comment by Guest — September 1, 2010 @ 5:57 pm
And this BS about animals using .edu addresses, it's funny, there are no animals registered on the sites I listed.
Comment by Guest — September 1, 2010 @ 6:00 pm
Put a Permanent Block on Facebook app Spamming & those creepy surveys, spread the word ! – Bypass Surveys FOREVER from your computer !
Comment by Benipal — February 21, 2011 @ 4:38 pm