Scam Signature Message: YEEHHAA The Farmville Purple Heart Cow!

Scam Type: Survey Scam

Trending: February 2011

Why it’s a Scam:

Once you click on the Wall Post link, you are taken to the following page:

If you click “Yes” to adopt the Purple Cow, you are taken to the following page:

At this stage of the scam, you are required to create a wall post that will spam the scammer’s message to all of your friends. After typing in your message and clicking “Publish”, you will then be taken to the following screen:

This is the survey scammer’s end game. Each time someone completes a survey they get paid. Don’t complete any surveys and give them personal information they can use to do you harm. Some surveys require you to download a game to proceed. These downloads often contain viruses or other malware that can infect your system. Never download anything from scams like this.

How to Deal with the Scam:

If you did make the mistake of installing the application and passing the link onto your friends, you should clean-up your newsfeed and profile to remove references to the application. You also need to access your privacy settings and remove the application.

If you made the mistake of submitting your cell phone number for any of the surveys, then you should contact your carrier immediately to keep any bogus charges from appearing.

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 stay informed of the latest security issues. Also check out:

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