Billions of Facebook users warned over bank-emptying attack

FACEBOOK users have been warned about a new scam that aims to hijack their accounts and steal their money.

Scammers employ many methods to trick you out of your funds – and the latest one preys on your curiosity.

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The nefarious attack is known as the “Look who just died” scam and may show up in your Facebook messages.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

A threat actor will hijack someone’s Facebook account and then send this message to their contacts to hack into more pages.

The message proclaims “Look who just died” and includes a link that appears to open to a news story about the supposed death.

Typically, bad actors will purport that the death is about someone the user knows or a celebrity.

Naturally curious, the user will then click on the link which contains malware.

It also directs users to log into their Facebook account – if they do, the credentials are then stolen.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

If a user clicks on the link and unknowingly reveals their account credentials, the hacker can then access their contact list to keep the scam going.

More importantly, if you have bank accounts or financial information linked to your Facebook, the hackers can access this and steal your money.

Experts have warned that this scam is mostly being sent through Facebook Messenger, but can also appear as a text or email.

HOW TO STAY SAFE

The best advice, experts say, is to never click on any links in messages that appear to be suspicious.

“Malware distributors have gotten increasingly savvy, and you need to be careful about what you download and click on,” the FBI has warned.

You should also always keep your devices and their systems and software up to date.

It doesn’t hurt to make sure anti-virus and anti-malware solutions are enabled, as well.

If you believe your account has been breached, change your password as soon as possible.