Spam King Ordered to Pay Facebook $711M

Unless, you know, it's a link to a Newser story on the topic

(NEWSER) - Clicking on links that promise to show photos or video of a dead Osama bin Laden is a bad idea, cybersecurity experts warn. Spammers and scammers have moved even faster than usual to spread malicious links aimed at Facebook and Google users, reports the Los Angeles Times . "The bad guys were quite fast," a researcher at Kasperky Labs says. They "started to poison search results in Google Images" within hours. More»

(USER SUBMITTED) - A new Facebook phishing scam plaguing inboxes—with the sender appearing to have an email address sourced from Facebook—sends recipients attachments with "new passwords" and very exuberantly notifies them of such in the subject line. The usual advice applies: Don't open that attachment. Read the full article . More»

Phishing scheme scores password information

(NEWSER) - Hackers went Facebook-phishing yesterday, nabbing the passwords of an undisclosed number of users, Reuters reports. Facebook is working to restore the site and has blocked accounts hit in what it believes was a ploy to spread future spam. Hackers broke into accounts, sending users’ friends emails that contained links to fake sites resembling the Facebook homepage; these sites asked visitors to log in, thereby giving up their passwords. More»

Cybercriminal accused of hijacking user profiles to send out millions of messages

(NEWSER) - Facebook has won an $873 million judgment against a man accused of hijacking user profiles to spew spam, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. The award—the biggest ever under federal spamming laws—was made against a Canadian citizen who Facebook accused of stealing login details to send more than 4 million messages; the spam advertised products like marijuana and male enhancement pills and appeared to be endorsed by the user. More»

Koobface Gang not bothering to hide their identities, location

(NEWSER) - You might think a cabal of cyber criminals who'd ripped off 400,000 to 800,000 Facebook users would be on the run and living deep underground. You'd be wrong. The so-called "Koobface Gang," makers of a Facebook worm that's done just that, is living large in St. Petersburg, Russia, the New York Times reports, and not only aren't they bothering to hide their identities, they regularly broadcast the location of their offices by checking in on Foursquare. More»