SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) - The FBI is warning consumers to protect themselves against new Facebook and MySpace hijacking schemes that are becoming a growing problem both locally and globally.
The hijacking of a Facebook or MySpace page occurs when hackers set up a “phishing site,” which is a page that is designed to look like a normal site. However, when consumers enter their username and password into such web pages, their information is sent to hijackers who can then gain complete control over a person’s account.
According to authorities, hackers can use account information to send distress messages to someone’s social networking contacts and ask for money.
Experts say that a consumer’s the best defense against such hijacking schemes is to adjust account privacy settings, be selective when adding friends, install Spyware, update security settings, and be careful of what is clicked on a web page. Experts also advise consumers to pay attention to messages that contain to broken English or poor punctuation as they are sometimes written by hijackers in foreign countries.
