Facebook ‘Dislike Button’ is a Scam!
According to Cnet.com, security firm Sophos has highlighted yet another scam that’s zipping around Facebook in the form of a third-party application, this one spreading in the form of links claiming to be from friends that encourage members to install a Facebook “dislike button.”
Sophos wrote about the scam in a post on Monday, pointing out that a link to it tends to appear in wall posts that appear to be from the user’s friends (“I just got the Dislike button, so now I can dislike all of your dumb posts lol!!”) but which are actually automated messages from friends who have already been duped. The scam’s purpose is to force users to complete a survey contained in the application, a bit of trickery that has already been known to be perpetuated through scam links like “Justin Bieber trying to flirt” and “Anaconda coughs up a hippo,” the two of which presumably would be enticing to rather different demographics of Facebook users.
As Facebook’s surging membership numbers have blazed past 500 million around the world, its channels of fast social connection and messaging have become a prime target for scammers and viruses.This one’s particularly nasty because a “dislike button,” offering some kind of counterpoint to Facebook’s own “like” button is something that many members have been clamoring for.
Harvard Identity Theft Has Lessons for CEOs
The story about the Harvard student who fraudulently gained access into Harvard University is an excellent lesson in repelling fraud. Watching the video to the left, you will be struck by how many opportunities there were to catch him in the act of lying. But it didn’t happen for a long time. The underlying reason he didn’t get caught is the same for prestigious universities like Harvard, Fortune 500 Companies and small businesses alike:
No one verified his claims (until recently). Verification is a learned skill that is under-utilized and under-
trained in corporate America.
Apparently the university, the financial aid office and a list of other responsible parties didn’t double check any of the claims he made – his grades, his transfer from MIT, his financial status, nothing. This happens inside of businesses everyday. New hires are processed without so much as a background check, reference check or educational check actually taking place. It is on the HR checklist of to-dos, but that doesn’t mean it is getting done. As a matter of fact, this is a similar case to the Bernie Madoff case – had the SEC taken just a few hours to verify his claims, his victims wouldn’t be out $54 billion. At some point, businesses are going to begin taking notice, and will train their executives and employees on detecting the human side of fraud. It’s not that difficult.
Sileo In the Media
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