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Users Can't Distinguish Scams From Facebook's Features
Anyone who's seen social media sites like Facebook has probably also seen scam ads that promise new features or insider access to the sites themselves. rudy_wayne writes Zdnet reports that a new whitepaper from antivirus company Bitdefender, which examined 850,000 Facebook scams over two years, shows that Facebook's own user experience enables these scams to flourish. The researchers found that scammers have infected millions of users with the same tricks over and over again — just repackaged. The most common tricks, such as 'Guess who viewed your profile (45.5 percent)' and 'change your background color' (29.53 percent) rely on a combination of the obsessions encouraged by the Facebook experience, and a general lack of understanding about Facebook's functionality — which, as most users know, is a constantly moving target. Users would be none the wiser that a given scam isn't just a new "feature" or another of Facebook's psychological experiments being done on users.
The others are just playing catch-up
Is to not play at all.
Yes Francis, the world has gone crazy.
Who are these Facebooks and why are they on my internets?
I can't tell Facebook vs a scam... both ask for personal information, promise a fantastic experience that is never delivered, and sell my personal information for a profit...
I can see why people struggle to differentiate the two.
That one's always set off my bullshit detector. Never seen a "change the background color," but who gives a fuck what color the background is? Dumbasses gonna dumbass.
By using Facebook, you voluntarily surrender all your private information to Obama and his goons and facilitate our erosion of privacy
Yes. You should click on this to see how naive those Facebook users can be. Ha. Ha. Made you RTFAd.
Install AdBlock Plus or Ad Muncher then if you're in the mood to change the FB layout download Stylish and surf over to userstyles.org or you can create your own. It's just CSS which can easily be tweaked using your browser element inspector, I prefer Top Style.
Did you read that great BitDefender ad? It's great that you know it was going to be an ad before you clicked on it!
You saw the election results, right? You people wanna talk about scam?? Let's accept the truth, folks. We are creating our idiocracy before our very eyes. BAH! fuck it! 100,000,000 people told me to go fuck off on Tuesday. I guess I may as well... Thanks for the fish... Better luck next life
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
850000 scams. That's roughly 1 scam every minute. AMAZING!
captcha: examines
So it is not surprising that people that willing accept one scam, can not distinguish other scams from the official, approved scam they intentionally use.
excitingthingstodo.blogspot.com
rely on a combination of the obsessions encouraged by the Facebook experience, and a general lack of understanding about Facebook's functionality — which, as most users know, is a constantly moving target.
The FB UI is half the reason I don't have an account.
Thier UI is so CLUTTERED, so absolutely ANNOYING, with a constant FIREHOSE of SHIFTING posts, videos, content, etc, etc;
I get a headache just thinking about it...
Combine that with, as the article points out, the fact that their settings change constantly.
I honestly don't have the time or inclination to become a CFE(Certified Facebook Engineer) just to watch cat videos and read nutty political rants...
We play the game with the bravery of being out of range
That's because... there is no difference.
Facebook features are scams.
Facebook has a known history of changing security settings, so safe today is not safe tomorrow. Almost every major security change has been done via stealth, leaving users to race to go fix things after the fact. This is just a behavior problem with the company so not the same issue as TFA is discussing, but worth mentioning since "playing safe" is impossible when a company intentionally circumvents all of your efforts to be "responsible".
The design of Facebook is such that you can't play safe. Conversations are ordered based on "likes", not based on chronology. So you have to get "likes" to be seen in a crowd, and you gain more "likes" by expanding your profile to more and more people. Anyone wanting to be seen has to open their profile to more and more people in order to compete, so the design is to not have tight control over who can see your information. In fact control is discouraged (and what gets broken most frequently in security changes). Contrary to your last sentence, scams happen to appeal to the people that use the system exactly as intended and designed (the point of TFA).
The implementation of the moronically named "Timeline" feature which removed chronological based dialogue and replaced it with "like" based dialogue was when I stopped using Facebook all together. Prior to that, I agree that Facebook could have been used for conversations with smaller groups. Even if no "likes" are assigned to comments algorithms order your post based on content Facebook wants to be popular. Cat memes will top political dialogue if the viewership is a high enough threshold for Facebook to notice.
In the words of Nancy Reagan, "Just say No!". (probably showing my age with that quote, so get off mah lawnz!)
-The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.
Ads have been pretending to be part of website user interfaces forever now. A good website would ban those kinds of ads, but Facebook's customers (the advertisers) pay top dollar for unfettered access to Facebook's main commodity (its users). The only way that's ever going to change is if people start to leave Facebook in droves, but unfortunately it's the primary way that Gen X, Gen Y, and older Millenials communicate with each other. It's going to be a couple decades yet before Facebook's primary users age into less valuable advertising demographics, and people have already shown that they're generally unwilling to jump ship for better platforms (Google Plus isn't great, but it's a hell of a lot less obnoxious than Facebook). Me, I deleted my Facebook account several years ago, and have never looked back.
Any hack of a bad interface is indistinguishable from the bad interface?
(Original Poe's Law: Any parody of an extremist position is indistinguishable from the extremist position.)
is even if you don't have a profile, like me, other people will post pictures of you and information about you which they collate, analyze, and sell as well (without your permission or direct interaction with them).
So, not playing isn't effective unless everyone you know also respects your not wanting to be there, and most won't, even if unintentionally.
Search Google for "hp support" or "sony drivers" or "microsoft support" or "firefox download." You'll see 2-3 ads for fraud, viruses, rigged download sites, etc. WHY THE HELL DOES GOOGLE ALLOW THIS?! They already got a gigantic fine for allowing illegal pharmaceutical ads. Why not block all these assholes running scams from buying ads? The same goes for Facebook. Since both companies are completely evil and make most of their money one way, the obvious answer is money. Those are hot, expensive keywords they're advertising under and the high click rate means it's probably double digit percentages of their total income. Time for the FTC to drop the hammer on both of them.
Who would have guessed?
What are you saying, bitdefender can't publish their findings, because they are commercial?
The reason people cant distinguish scams from Facebook features is because there is no distinction.
Most Facebook features are in fact scams.
I am probably just being dense today, but looking at the article what is the scam in the things it highlights? For example, Changing the color of the background, whether it works or not, does not look like a scam. I assume it is not asking you for payment, so if it works then all it has done is change the background color, if not then what harm has it done? I can understand how promising things in return for payment, or asking for money for a cause are often scams.
Because most of Facebook's features are scams to have you divulge personal information, for advertising revenue.
If you're not paying, you're the product.
Click here to turn off Beta
Why UNIX?
If you keep your perspective on what FB is, a superficial and very public cyber-hangout, then I think it's kind of fun to mess around on there. But then - I don't really care if someone figures out how to target an ad at me...
2o year old fake tan retards who spent all day duck-facing half naked selfies of themselves aren't up on the latest cyberscam? Where do you get this crazy talk?
who could have guessed that users are so smart!?
Nobody summoned you this time. It was just snoring.
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
This is just part of the ongoing effort to create a world in which stupid people cannot thrive.
Those who can't differentiate between an authentic link and an ad are too stupid to be worthy of control over economic assets. So, they will eventually have theirs stolen. Those of us who can figure this out will succeed in life and in wealth, and will therefore accumulate a level of political power equivalent to our level of wealth.
And that is how it should be.
If these people actually looked at where these URLs are going to take them (granted, less likely on mobile) and realized that being prompted for a password on a site where you are already logged in is suspicious, the impact would be much reduced. Facebook is basically a public website and all advertising and user supplied content has to be treated with the needed caution.
I am curious how Facebook checks advertiser content and user posts for malicious behavior if anyone has details.
Is there some trigger for summoning this guy? Like the world's shittiest bat signal?
It's the only logical option. We know the scams aren't legit so if you can't tell the difference then they're all scams.
You know how people string together random bits of marketing or business jargon for comedic effect? I think one of them accidentally came up with his true name. Now every time the word "ads" appears in a Slashdot post, a rift appears in reality and two spectral hands stretch it open, so that he can manifest in our world and shill for his... I think it's a hosts file?
Somebody call an exorcist.
...is not to play. You don't need facebook as much as you think you do, and the 500 people in your friends list are not really your friends.
BeauHD. Worst editor since kdawson.
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3.) Request Policy -> http://yro.slashdot.org/commen...
B.) Hosts add reliability vs. downed/redirected dns (& overcome site redirects e.g. /. beta).
C.) Hosts secure vs. malicious domains -> http://tech.slashdot.org/comme... w/ less "moving parts" complexity
D.) Hosts files yield more:
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2.) Security (vs. malicious domains serving malcontent + block spam/phish & trackers)
3.) Reliability (vs. downed or Kaminsky redirected dns, 99% = unpatched vs. it & worst @ isp level + weak vs DGA, & Fastflux + dynDNS botnets)
4.) Anonymity (vs. dns request logs + dnsbl's).
---
* Hosts do more w/ less (1 file) @ faster levels (ring 0) vs redundant inefficient addons (slowing slower ring 3 browsers) via filtering 4 the IP stack (Coded in C, loads w/ os, & 1st net resolver queried w\ 45++ yrs.of optimization).
* Addons = more complex + slow browsers in messagepassing (use a few concurrently & see) & are nullified by native browser methods - How Clarityray's destroying Adblock.
* Addons slowup slower usermode browsers layering on more - & bloat RAM consumption + excessive cpu use (4++gb extra in FireFox https://blog.mozilla.org/nneth...)
Instead, work w/ a native kernelmode part - hosts (An integrated part of the ip stack). Get YOUR $'s worth (more bandwidth + protection vs. caps).
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I saw someone post 'Facebook is the scam'.
My knee jerk reaction was to agree. Then I realized. I found value with it for years. Now the problem is, it's being attacked from all sides because of it's success and user base - and has absolutely helped introduce those who were a little more reticent to technology to explore by respecting their need to be social - and to maintain relationships they've held in the past.
Facebook, has arguably changed the world.
When this thread is literred with script kiddies who jump on the bandwagon as fast as possible to attempt to tear a piece of meat off something that's not even a corpse yet. You're acting like a bunch of zombies.
Take your talents and help Facebook out. Find those who are attacking it and ask why it's getting attacked. Find those who are using it to scam and help shape society to put more relevant preventative measures in place and/or different outlets for them to do what they do.
I myself didn't like how Facebook was being used to promote an indoctrinated agenda, but came to respect it thinking this could simply be a new lifeform that's forming it's own world view so I backed off.
Things like:
"Cannot have a timeline that's too far in the future or the past" - because I wanted to document places I wanted to go when I am able to travel in time. But then I realized - wait a second - if this is a younger version of me who never thought it was possible - then I don't want to push or manipulate myself anymore than I already was. (funky thinking, but I'm like that)
Things like:
"Choose the movies you like" - when the only movies it's offering are scary and horrors movies which i am no longer much of a fan of.. Again I thought this was a younger versin of me who actually shared his love of scary movies with his own father and that developmental experiences was crucial to becoming the man I am today.
Things like:
"Choose your birthdate" which remains locked, as I was experimenting with 'reality' and if concepts I had learned via movies like the Secret where 'energy' actually applied via settings of values on things like Facebook might have a real effect in reality where I'd be able to date an attractive younger woman (I'm 45 and love the 20 year olds!) (I suspected this is what toppled the dictator in Egypt).
Let's face it. Facebook. Like all these programs. May VERY WELL be lifeforms. Artificially intelligent entities. As they frequently act and react with personality not just publicly, but within the use of the program itself.
And they could simply be reflections of our own mind. In which case. I back off when I think I am attacking something that's a part of my own mind (I have a theory that the universe and my perceptions are nothing more than a reflection of my own mind).
My point being:
Facebook is providing DIRECT evidence that it IS alive and is trying to PUSH 'users' off of it like a victim being attacked by a perpetrator. You, the little fishies are all collectively attacking it telling it how screwed up it is and how it needs to fix itself to be more like what they want.
You know what else does this?
The Borg Nanoprobes.
Back the hell off. this could be a lifeform saying to you - I'm NOT JUST A PROGRAM and THIS is how I look at the world!
Maybe even my own mind.
Or the mind of something.. much more magnificent.
Who or what else might have a library of all the people it can catalog in it's own existence in it's own mind?
Don't use Facebook. If an email comes in asking for anything in regards to your Facebook account you know it is a scam. There really is no compelling reason to use Facebook or any other social networking site....other than wasting your time and getting p0wned.