England football sex cheat scam hits Facebook

Facebook has yet to respond to Sophos' request to take down the scam

Security experts have warned users of yet another Facebook survey scam, this time using as a lure messages apparently linking to images of an England football player seen with an underage prostitute.

Sophos senior technology consultant Graham Cluley raised the alarm on his blog, noting the Facebook scammers are using the news of England player Peter Crouch’s high-profile relationship woes to attract interest.

Messages such as “omg.. thats disgusting ! she looks about 13!” and “OMG You Must See This Shocking Photos!” appear with a link which invites the user to share the message with friends.

However, instead of being taken to these shocking photos, the user is taken to a series of online surveys.

“As is frequently the case with this sort of unwanted activity on Facebook at the moment – the mischief-makers behind the scam are earning money in the form of commission by tricking people into taking the surveys,” Cluley wrote.

These type of scams have been hitting Facebook with increasing regularity in recent weeks, with several variations designed to get people to click on the link taking them to the online survey.

These include the chance to see videos purporting to show "the world's worst McDonald's customer", "Justin Bieber trying to flirt" or to get an "official Dislike button".

As with all these scams, users are urged to exercise caution and not click on unfamiliar links.