Secret Crush widget spreads adware on Facebook

A "malicious widget" on Facebook is leaving love-hungry social networkers feeling crushed. The widget - which poses as a "Secret Crush" request inviting prospective marks to find out which of their friends might have the hots for them - acts as a social worm, prompting users to unwittingly download the infamous Zango adware …

[John Macintyre]

not any more

I seem to recall seeing some of my friends add that, but that app ain't on facebook anymore by the looks of it

[Rob]

Strange twist of fate...

... I don't really use Facebook like it should be used anymore, it's a lot of hassle with the damn widgets.

The only good that I get out of it now, seems to be posting news articles warning my friends about how dodgy Facebook can be (wonder how long before I get locked out from my account, was gonna say deleted but we know that never happens).

[Anonymous Coward]

new attack vector = new attach

More and more people are using social networks like they are a new piece of software or a new system. The opportunity for new ways to socially engineer these users is immense. In fact they should be called social engineering networks as that is all they do, so really this is a just like in botany..... a weed is a plant in the wrong place. - - - social engineering is only called that on Facework when it's not done in the name of the social network.

Loosers for offering themselves and their personal info like lambs to a mint sauce factory.

[Count Ludwig]

@Rob: Facebook = Yellow pages

"I don't really use Facebook like it should be used anymore" Me neither, I assume every detail on it is public and just put the bare minimum: name & spammable email address. I'm still trying to decide if I want my phone number on it - it's in the paper phonebook after all.

[Anonymous Coward]

One has to wonder

When facebook uses say friends do they mean real friends or imaginary ones?

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: One has to wonder

It's all down to how you use it. I use it to keep track of my real friends and it does a pretty good job of helping us to keep in touch. I don't have many hundreds of 'friends' as lots of Facebook users do but each one of mine is a 'real life' friend. I also don't go for most of the time wasting applications which I can easily block from view with Greasemonkey. Needless to say I publish little personal information as my friends already have that.

[David Cornes]

The new face of spam?

I've been on Facebook for a couple of months now, after a friend persuaded me to try it.

The upside? I've made contact with quite a few people I haven't spoken to for a while (years in a few cases!), and it's useful to just keep a casual ee on what people are up to, touch base with them now and then, etc.

The downside? Several times a week I get 'spammed' with requests to join some network/app/thing which one of my friends has, and then to invite all MY friends. One of them (SuperWall) keeps sending me emails (from THEM, not me, so*I* can't opt out of them) which redirect to some ad website www.rockyou.com. Another one (some dating thing) redirected to a website which asked for a moby number, and in the small print at the bottom just happened to mention it was a subscription service, and you'd be charge several quid per txt for the pleasure!

For the most I simply refuse to add them (though Scrabulous is good!), but it really is putting me off the place, what with these constant stream of dubious invites that equate to viral spam, except they're unwittingly initiated by trusting users who have been conditioned to think that anything on the site must be good, and can't do them any harm can it..??!

[david gomm]

I think it's only a matter of time

before the open nature of Facebook becomes its own downfall

[James]

Not all bad

There are many cool Facebook apps out there - it's a shame that viral, do nothing, wastes of time and space apps are giving a bad name to those developers who are genuinely trying to show users all the cool things that can be done on a Platform like facebook.

Check this out for example - it allows you to graffiti your friends photos and it then publishes your new image to your photo album alerting the person who is in the picture. You can then use that picture for whatever you like as it's in your album. Look at http://apps.facebook.com/bestmask/

I'd agree that the platform is doomed - it's app model is the key thing that has given it momentum in growth and differentiated it from it's competitors. They need to do more for developers of innovative applications, and try to squash out the likes of Superwall, Funwall, Werewolves, Vampires and You're a hottie - which do nothing other than swamp the news feeds with pointless messages. Hopefully with the wall clones, Facebook will just stamp them out by enhancing their own wall application.

If you're going to install a viral app - make sure it's one with a point - such as http://apps.facebook.com/spreadthepeace/

[Robert Steadman]

@ Chris W

I have a Facebook friend invitation from some-one I see regularly, but who walks past me with her nose in the air; maybe she just imagines I'm her friend?

[Graham Jordan]

Thank god

Something like this may be whats needed for facebook to kill the bloody open apps. I'm at the stage now where any repeat "XXX has invited you..." offender gets the ol boot from me.

Such a shame to see it go down the toilet...

[Anonymous Coward]

Social Networking?

Here's an idea: go out and make some real friends instead. Or, get your real-world (assuming you have any left after you have spent the last 4 years glued to your computer) friends away from their computers and sites like facebook and go to a bloody pub or something!

*mutters stuff about things aint what they used to be*

[Bill Fresher]

@Robert Steadman

"I have a Facebook friend invitation from some-one I see regularly, but who walks past me with her nose in the air; maybe she just imagines I'm her friend?"

Perhaps she'd stop and chat if you bothered to accept her invitation!

[Anonymous Coward]

@jeremy

Only LOSERS write "loosers" Jeremy!

[Steve]

Time to sign up...

"Those who have seeded the program within Facebook are cashing in, getting rewarded "per click" as Zango affiliates."

If I can make a bit of money out of it, it might be worth it.

[Steve]

@AC

It's possible to both be a facebook user and have real friends that you meet in the pub.

Try to wrap your little mind around this. I arrange going to the pub using a facebook event. I quickly invite all my (real life) friends without having to text or phone and they can as a group discuss which pub we're going to on the event wall.

I don't have a single friend on facebook who I don't know in the flesh, even if some of them are currently in other cities/countries and so can't come to the pub.

Of course I routinely decline invitations to each and every add on app, the interface is fine without me being able to compare movie tastes or scribble instead of type on someones wall.

[Anonymous Coward]

@Anonymous Coward

Only lusers write "LOSERS" AC!

[Franklin]

Who'd've thunk...

...that we would one day be seeking refuge in the arms of the Russians.

I use LiveJournal. No apps, no gizmos, no widgets, no endless barrage of spam. What's a public outcry or two over net-nannying and censoring compared to getting spammed or infected with adware by your own friends?

[Anonymous Coward]

@ Steve

Um, YOU won't make any money out of it, those that put it on facebook in the first place are the ones making the per-click ad revenue. You'll just be infecting your computer and making them even more money!!! Paris cos that's the sort of thing she'd think too, Steve.

[Dave Coventry]

@Robert Steadman

Maybe she has a crush on you!

There one way to find out...

[number-g]

wait . . .

FACEBOOK FTW LOL!

[Martin]

Re: Not all bad

Except the reason the walls are spreading isn't their features - it's the nature of the users. You can actually do most of the things "superwall" and it's ilk can using the normal wall now - pretty much any developer can allow a wall post with content from their app. Unfortunately it doesn't stop the people who have 3 or 4 of these things.

Luckily, they're almost exclusively used for chain mails, so you can safely do like me and block them (that also stops the invite requests).

[Tom]

Hmm

It's simple... as people become annoyed by apps they'll delete them. That's why I hardly get any invites these days and people have less apps!

[Ben Cross]

Unfortunately...

i get sooo much crap that ive disabled loads..

SuperWall/Funwall = worst spamming apps of all time..and as such i just took it off - after redirecting all facebook emails to my spam folder

i dont need a stupid notification..i can just log on the site if i wanna find out stuff! :)

Facebook is merely a way of spamming everyone with useless bilge as well as getting people to download adaware (through widgets) and let everyone in the world know about where they live, their home addresses etc..

great fun

[Anonymous Coward]

Facebook crush lies for money!!!

when i clicked on the link it provided on facebook, it asked me to give it my phone no. to receive an sms , supposingly telling me who has the crush on me with some tips ( which was totally nonsense! ), of course they no friend of mine! and it charges A$6.60/sms !! and you had to send "stop" to stop it. I ended up receiving 4 sms and it added $27.4 to my phone bill this month as a "Premium SMS service" !!!!!!!!!!!! they were sent from this number: 19944989 , anyone knows any way to take legal action against this? can i refuse to pay it?

[Scott]

For Seiya...

Perhaps the $27.40 is the price you get to pay to learn to not give out your phone number to stupid applications and web sites. Let's hope you learn something from it!