There's a new Facebook Messenger virus going around, beware of your friends!
Did you receive a strange link from one of your Facebook contacts today? Stay alert: you may be the target of another hacking attempt. There are malicious people out there who want to hack your Facebook account or hack your Instagram password in an effort to spread malware and infect computers around the world. Many of these hackers are gaining unauthorized access to your friends accounts and are using their accounts to try and trick you into infecting your computer with malware.
Here’s how to spot hacking attempts on Facebook
Many Facebook users have started to receive strange messages from their friends via Facebook Messenger. As mentioned by various reports, you will first receive a message containing a video with your image and to entice you to click on the video, a mind-blowing number of views is shown. If you click on the video, hackers will ask you for your username and password under the guise that it’s Facebook asking for your credentials. Of course, if you were to click on this link your computer will likely become infected and your account will also start sending similar messages to your friends.
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A friend of mine actually shared this status update on his Facebook account just the other day and offers some good advice.
What can you do to keep your Facebook account secure?
As always, remain vigilant when online and be cautious of unusual messages from your friends, especially from friends you haven’t spoken with in some time.
Additional things you should do to stay secure on Facebook and online in general are:
- Use different passwords on every site. Don’t use the same password for your bank that you use for Facebook.
- It is highly recommended that you use a password manager to generate and store your passwords securely. My personal recommendation is 1Password.
- Use common sense. Common sense security is underrated but can make all the difference. If something seems off, don’t click it.