Facebook phishing campaign nets millions in IDs and cash

An ongoing phishing campaign targeting Facebook users may have already netted hundreds of millions of credentials and a claimed $59 million, and it's only getting bigger. Identified by security researchers at phishing prevention company Pixm in late 2021, the campaign has only been running since the final quarter of last year …

[Anonymous Coward]

The critical link

It that Facebook was unwilling so far to block the domains they were using to bury their abusive links. Those services are largely unnecessary for page navigation and rendering. The industry is mostly built on shady operators juggling link clicks around to pump up their ad auctions.

We really SHOULD just blackhole these outfits, which will inconvenience legitimate operators, but knock out whole tracks of bad actors. An internet without these companies would be a better internet.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: The critical link

agreed, not only is FB complainant with criminals, they also likely looking the other way since they are getting paid to run the adds. Not unlike they did with Cambridge Analytica, and a never ending list of scammers that can buy adds without verification.

Funny thing is FB can push fake/scam adds all day, but comment that those adds are scam and you could get banned from the platform for a week to a month.

[Terry 6]

The mystery of Facebook

It's been well documented for several years that FB is the home of the scam. From clickbait links to fraudulent and phishing adverts. Yet we still keep hearing stories of people getting ripped off because they bought something they saw advertised on FB or giving their personal information out to someone who claims to know them. Things they wouldn't dream of doing with some random guy who sidles up to them in the street or puts an ad in their local free paper ( if they still have one). It's like just logging on to the site hypnotises them.

[Jamie Jones]

Re: The mystery of Facebook

To be fair, they see Facebook as a reputable brand, and they trust ads on there in the same way they'd trust TV ads on ITV or Channel 4.

The same thing happens with all the obvious scams shown on youtube (though these are selling things at inflated prices with questionable claims, rather than phishing)

Probably the most effective way to kill Facebook is to convince the users that as many ads on Facebook are dodgy, they shouldn't trust any of them.

Get into the facebook user the mindset that all facebook ads are dodgy and should be ignored, and you'll soon see them fix things when they legitimate ad revenue plummets.

[J. Cook]

Easy best fix: stop using failbook. (not really all that easy for some people, I understand, but still...

[Anonymous Coward]

Any tips for reclaiming accounts?

[doublelayer]

Is it a bad thing that when I read the headline "Facebook phishing campaign nets millions in IDs and cash", my first thought was "So Facebook's phishing people now?" and I wasn't that surprised? Yes, my reading comprehension system turned back on at that point, but for the first three seconds, that was what my brain came up with.

[John69]

It basically is though. I read it that they are getting people to look at ads, which fecesbook pays them for. They may be using the tools they have been given in ways that they were not designed to use, but in the end of the day it is fecesbook serving the ads, collecting the money and paying the scammers.