A study of 1.4 million Facebook users shows a sharp rise in protecting personal information.

The most notable statistic was the number of users choosing to hide their friend list. This figure rose over 200% during the 15-month period of the study. Further analysis revealed that women and higher income users were more apt to have stricter privacy settings.

The study was conducted by Keith Ross, the Leonard J. Shustek Professor of Computer Science at the Polytechnic Institute of New Your University. The goal was to examine Internet privacy leaks and trends.

Ross and his colleagues analyzed the public profile pages of 1.4 million users in March 2010 and then again in June of 2011.

Here are a couple of fun Facebook facts from their research:

• In March 2010, 17 percent of users had their friends list hidden from public view. 15 months later this figure rose to 53%.
• Other profile information, such as, age, high school, graduation year, network, relationship, gender, interests, hometown and current city also were hidden more frequently. (12% in 2010 and rose to 33% in 2011)

Ross believes that a combination of factors were responsible for the increase in users preferring tighter privacy settings. Media attention on privacy exploits and vulnerabilities likely led to increased public awareness. This pressure brought about a major redesign on Facebook’s privacy settings interface.

The profiles used in the study were all from New York City. While not a random sample, Ross and his research team believe their findings show a growing trend in privacy demands.

Ross believes his study to be to be the largest analysis of Facebook user’s privacy preferences to date.

How many times have you cringed or blushed with embarrassment after seeing an unflattering Facebook photo you were tagged in?

Facebook has really come under fire for their lack of control in this area. It wasn’t until August of last year that Facebook introduced the ability for users to approve tagged photos before they are published to their profile. This is a step in the right direction, but many users want the ability to approve photos before they are ever posted to Facebook in the first place. Sophos conducted a survey just this month and a whopping 83% of respondents think that their permission should be obtained before someone else can post their photos to Facebook. 8% thought that posting a photo to Facebook without permission should be illegal!

The bottom line is there really isn’t a good way to get unflattering or embarrassing pictures removed from Facebook.

Most people simply deny tagged photos or ask the offending poster to remove them, but not Aaron Olson. According to Above the Law, Olson’s uncle posted childhood photos that Olson found offensive. The uncle later untagged Olson, but this just wasn’t enough for the humiliated nephew.

Olson then tried to obtain a restraining order against his uncle for harassment, but to no avail. The courts in Minnesota ruled that “comments that are mean and disrespectful, coupled with innocuous family photos, do not affect a person’s safety, security, or privacy…” and therefore do not count as harassment.”

Do you think Facebook should make it easier for unwanted photos to be removed or is the current tag approval system adequate?

Scam Signature Message:

$1000 Visa Gift Card | Welcome

Scam Type: Bogus Offer

Trending: February

Why it’s a Scam:

Clicking the wall post link takes you to the following Facebook page:

When you “Click Here,” you are taken to the following landing page:

Reading the fine print reveals that you have to complete a total of 13 ‘Reward Offer.’ Chances are, after you have completed the offers it isn’t going to be worth the Gift Card, assuming that part of the promotion isn’t a scam. Also keep in mind the scammers are acquiring a treasure trove of your personal data. You will be required to provide your name, address, phone numbers and date of birth. This will enable the shady marketers to not only spam your Facebook account, but also harass you via snail mail, phone calls and text messages.

**Note – Scams like this often use multiple domains, so you may see a variation in the landing pages and scam messages.

How to Deal with the Scam:

If you did make the mistake of sharing the scam link, then you are now spamming your friends with the very same message. Clean-up your newsfeed and profile to remove references to the scam. (click the “x” in the top right hand corner of the post).

Be on the lookout for more marketing offers arriving to your email inbox and physical address if you submitted that information to the scammers. Also be aware and alert for possible identity theft attempts.

If you submitted your cell phone for any of the surveys or offers, then keep an eye on your cell phone bill to make sure no premium charges appear.

If you or your Facebook friends are falling for tricks like this, it’s time to get yourself informed of the latest threats. Be sure to join the Facecrooks page on Facebook to be kept informed of the latest security issues. Also check out:

Your Ultimate Guide to Facebook Scams and How to Deal with Them

How to spot a Facebook Survey Scam

Recommended Resources

BitDefender Safego is a Facebook application you can install that will scan your News Feed and help keep you safe from scams like this.

PRIVATE WiFi® is a Personal VPN that encrypts everything you send and receive. Don’t access Facebook from a public WiFi hotspot without it.

Roboform is a 5 Star, award winning password manager. Reduce all passwords to just one, and automatically login to websites.

Scam Signature Message:

WOW!! My Name Talks A Lot!! Click below to find out about yours..

Scam Type:  Rogue Application, Survey Scam

Trending: February 2012

Why it’s a Scam:

Clicking the wall post link takes you to the following Facebook application installation screen:

Clicking “Allow” will give the permissions shown above to the scammer.  The application will be able to post to Facebook as you. This will allow them to spam their scam messages to all of your friends. Do you really want to let an unknown developer have this much access to your Facebook information? This particular application is called “Are You Ready?”, but scams like this are known to use multiple Facebook apps. Just the fact that the application name has nothing to do with the stated purpose should be a big red flag!

Anytime you install a third party Facebook application, you give the application developer access to your personal data. Always be very selective on the apps you install, and only install them from well-known, trusted sources.

Continuing on with the installation redirects you to the following survey scam:

Facebook is riddled with silly apps like this, and we strongly advise that you avoid them all.

How to Deal with the Scam:

If you did make the mistake of  installing the rogue application you are now spamming the very same spam message to your friends. Clean-up your newsfeed and profile to remove references to the scam. (click the “x” in the top right hand corner of the post).

You also need to remove the app from your Facebook account. Click the down triangle—>Account Settings—>Apps to remove this and other rogue applications.

If you or your Facebook friends are falling for tricks like this, it’s time to get yourself informed of the latest threats. Be sure to join the Facecrooks page on Facebook to be kept informed of the latest security issues.  Also check out:

Your Ultimate Guide to Facebook Scams and How to Deal with Them

How to spot a Facebook Survey Scam

Recommended Resources

BitDefender Safego is a Facebook application you can install that will scan your News Feed and help keep you safe from scams like this.

PRIVATE WiFi® is a Personal VPN that encrypts everything you send and receive. Don’t access Facebook from a public WiFi hotspot without it.

Scam Signature Message:

Coca Cola Giveaway ( 24 Pack Limited Offer )

Scam Type:  Fake Event, Survey Scam

Trending: February 2012

Why it’s a Scam:

Clicking the wall post link takes you to the following bogus Facebook Event page:

Clicking the link on the page above redirects you to yet another fake Facebook event page:

Here is where the shenanigans come into play. You are required to join the event, and invite your friends – notice the more people you invite the more Coke you get. Obviously a ploy by the scammer to dupe as many people as possible.

Clicking on the cocacolagiveaway[dot]com link loads the following survey scam:

How to Deal with the Scam:

If you did make the mistake of  joining this bogus event, then you should remove yourself as an attendee. Also, if you invited your friends, then you should let them know that the event isn’t legitimate and that they should ignore the invite.

As with other offers that sound too good to be true, always verify online promotions with the company. Don’t be tricked by bogus offers and marketing gimmicks!

If you or your Facebook friends are falling for tricks like this, it’s time to get yourself informed of the latest threats. Be sure to join the Facecrooks page on Facebook to be kept informed of the latest security issues.  Also check out:

Your Ultimate Guide to Facebook Scams and How to Deal with Them

How to spot a Facebook Survey Scam

Recommended Resources

BitDefender Safego is a Facebook application you can install that will scan your News Feed and help keep you safe from scams like this.

PRIVATE WiFi® is a Personal VPN that encrypts everything you send and receive. Don’t access Facebook from a public WiFi hotspot without it.

Scam Signature Message:

My Funny Name

Haha!! Click Below to find What Does Your Name Say About You..

Scam Type:  Rogue Application, Survey Scam

Trending: February 2012

Why it’s a Scam:

Clicking the wall post link takes you to the following Facebook application installation screen:

Clicking “Allow” will give the permissions shown above to the scammer.  The application will be able to post to Facebook as you. This will allow them to spam their scam messages to all of your friends. Do you really want to let an unknown developer have this much access to your Facebook information? This particular application is called “The Name”, but scams like this are known to use multiple Facebook apps.

Anytime you install a third party Facebook application, you give the application developer access to your personal data. Always be very selective on the apps you install, and only install them from well-known, trusted sources.

Continuing on with the installation redirects you to the following survey scam:

Facebook is riddled with silly apps like this, and we strongly advise that you avoid them all.

How to Deal with the Scam:

If you did make the mistake of  installing the rogue application you are now spamming the very same spam message to your friends. Clean-up your newsfeed and profile to remove references to the scam. (click the “x” in the top right hand corner of the post).

You also need to remove the app from your Facebook account. Click the down triangle—>Account Settings—>Apps to remove this and other rogue applications.

If you or your Facebook friends are falling for tricks like this, it’s time to get yourself informed of the latest threats. Be sure to join the Facecrooks page on Facebook to be kept informed of the latest security issues.  Also check out:

Your Ultimate Guide to Facebook Scams and How to Deal with Them

How to spot a Facebook Survey Scam

Recommended Resources

BitDefender Safego is a Facebook application you can install that will scan your News Feed and help keep you safe from scams like this.

PRIVATE WiFi® is a Personal VPN that encrypts everything you send and receive. Don’t access Facebook from a public WiFi hotspot without it.

There is often a thick veil of secrecy regarding the inner workings and backend machinery of Facebook and especially Facebook Security. This really isn’t surprising – the less that hackers and scammers know about Facebook’s internal processes and procedures, the harder time they will have circumventing their defenses.

Have you ever wondered what happens when you report photos, Facebook pages or other offensive content? Well Gawker recently released a story that offers great insight into the matter.

The central figure of their piece is Amine Derkaoui, a 21-year-old Moroccan who spent a few weeks training to screen and muck through the worst and darkest side of the Facebook underworld. He claims he was paid just $1.00 per hour and that Facebook is exploiting the third world. He was contracted through oDesk, a California based outsourcing firm.

Derkaoui also provided Gawker with a copy of a document called “Abuse Standards Violations,” which provides very clear guidelines on Facebook’s moderation efforts. Gawker calls this document “a map of Facebook’s moral terrain.”

Gawker also contacted several former moderators and many of them left due to the disturbing nature of the assignment. Imagine seeing a steady stream of gore, child pornography, beheadings and other gruesome, abhorrent images. Here are a couple of their quotes:

“Think like that there is a sewer channel,” one moderator explained during a recent Skype chat, “and all of the mess/dirt/ waste/**** of the world flow towards you and you have to clean it.”

“Pedophelia, Necrophelia, Beheadings, Suicides, etc,” he recalled. “I left [because] I value my mental sanity.”

If you are the least bit interested in gaining an understanding of the moral compass that guides Facebook’s censorship and moderation guidelines, then I highly recommend you read the one page cheat sheet and a 17 page manual contained in the article.

Allfacebook made an excellent point on Facebook’s decision to outsource their content moderation operations – “The people charged with making decisions about flagged content are underpaid subcontractors. If there were some way to do this in-house for a reasonable cost, perhaps fewer disputes would arise over content pulled erroneously.”

If you think your child’s privacy settings on Facebook really don’t matter – think again.

The FBI is investigating an incident where pictures of teen girls were taken from Facebook and placed on a pornographic website. The victim’s ages range from 14-17 years old.

The good news is that the photos showed the girls fully clothed – the bad news is that some of their personal information was included on the site. Imagine seeing your child’s photo on a pornographic website with their name and high school posted beside it.  To make matters worse, child pornography was also discovered on theMassachusettsbased web site.

The teens didn’t have their privacy settings configured properly, and Facebook’s design makes it very easy for photos to be downloaded. All you have to do is right click on an image, and you are given the option to save it. Some photo sharing sites disable the right click save option. This may be a slight deterrent to some, but there are still ways for your images to be stolen. Always keep in mind that anything posted on the Internet can come back to haunt you.

Also remember that Timeline cover photos are public, and this can’t be changed. For maximum privacy, don’t upload real photographs of yourself or your family – use clip art, your favorite outdoor scene or another image of some kind.

Authorities are unsure if any laws have been broken, and if anything can be done to get the pictures removed.

Have you done a privacy audit on your child’s Facebook account?

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Recommended Resources

BitDefender Safego is a Facebook application you can install that will scan your News Feed and help keep you safe from scams like this.

PRIVATE WiFi® is a Personal VPN that encrypts everything you send and receive. Don’t access Facebook from a public WiFi hotspot without it.

Scam Signature Message:
[video] – Whitney Houstons autopsy reveals a shocking secret that explains her death.

Trending: February 2012

Scam Type: Malware, Rogue Plugin

Why it’s a Scam:

Clicking the wall post link takes you to the following page:

The scammers are hoping to trick unsuspecting users in to downloading a rogue browser plugin.  As with Facebook applications, only install plugins / browser extensions from trusted sources.  You don’t need a YouTube player to see videos. This is a totally bogus ruse to trick people into downloading a potentially malicious download. Installing a plugin like this leaves your system totally vulnerable to the developer. Similar scams have been known to pack malware and viruses. Installing the plugin is definitely not worth the risk to your system. We decided to stop here and advise you to do the same.

How to Deal with the Scam:

If you follow the scam through to its completion, then you are likely spreading the very same scam message to your friends. They will need to remove the scam message by clicking the small “X” located in the top right hand corner of the post on their wall. You also need to run a complete system scan on your machine to make sure the code didn’t infect your system. You will also need to uninstall the rogue add-on from your web browser.

How to protect your Facebook account from Rogue Browser Extensions

If you or your Facebook friends are falling for tricks like this, it’s time to get yourself informed of the latest threats. Be sure to join the Facecrooks page on Facebook to be kept informed of the latest security issues. Also check out:

The Ultimate Guide to Facebook Scams and How to Deal with Them

How to spot a Facebook Survey Scam

Recommended Resources

BitDefender Safego is a Facebook application you can install that will scan your News Feed and help keep you safe from scams like this.

PRIVATE WiFi® is a Personal VPN that encrypts everything you send and receive. Don’t access Facebook from a public WiFi hotspot without it.

Scam Signature Message:

Cool! Hello Pink FACEB00k! And Goodbye Blue FACEB00k! Switch Your FACEB00k Profile to 5 Different Colors And Themes. Choose Here

Scam Type:  Rogue Application, Survey Scam

Trending: February 2012

Why it’s a Scam:

Clicking the wall post link takes you to the following landing page:

If you “Click here,” you will be taken to the following Facebook application installation screen:

Clicking “Allow” will give the permissions shown above to the scammer.  The application will be able to post to Facebook as you. This will allow them to spam their scam messages to all of your friends. Do you really want to let an unknown developer have this much access to your Facebook information? This particular application is called “Unclocked Security”, but scams like this are known to use multiple Facebook apps.

Anytime you install a third party Facebook application, you give the application developer access to your personal data. Always be very selective on the apps you install, and only install them from well-known, trusted sources.

Continuing on with the installation redirects you to the following survey scam:

How to Deal with the Scam:

If you did make the mistake of  installing the rogue application you are now spamming the very same spam message to your friends. Clean-up your newsfeed and profile to remove references to the scam. (click the “x” in the top right hand corner of the post).

You also need to remove the app from your Facebook account. Click the down triangle—>Account Settings—>Apps to remove this and other rogue applications.

If you or your Facebook friends are falling for tricks like this, it’s time to get yourself informed of the latest threats. Be sure to join the Facecrooks page on Facebook to be kept informed of the latest security issues.  Also check out:

Your Ultimate Guide to Facebook Scams and How to Deal with Them

How to spot a Facebook Survey Scam

Recommended Resources

BitDefender Safego is a Facebook application you can install that will scan your News Feed and help keep you safe from scams like this.

PRIVATE WiFi® is a Personal VPN that encrypts everything you send and receive. Don’t access Facebook from a public WiFi hotspot without it.