Spam application spreading again on Facebook

Facebook users are once again being tricked into spreading spam links

A Facebook spam application is spreading with the lure of a "shocking video" to tempt unsuspecting victims.

Security firm Sophos reported that the application spreads by enticing users to click on a video link promising footage of a death related to text messaging.

On clicking the link, the victim is directed to a Facebook application installation page which requests access to account information and the user's communication wall.

People who confirm the installation then have the link posted to their wall and news feed, allowing the application link to spread to friends and contacts.

No code is installed to the user's actual system, and the application can be manually uninstalled through Facebook's applications page and user wall.

Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos, explained that, even though Facebook directly warns people that the application will gain access to their profiles and data, nearly 300,000 have already fallen victim.

"I'd recommend you get yourself educated about internet threats so you're wise to these sort of attacks in the future," Cluley wrote in a blog post.

"And don't forget to tell your Facebook friends who passed on this rogue app to you, so they can be wiser in future."

Social engineering tactics have become a popular method for spreading rogue pages and applications on Facebook. Last month a click-jacking scam took advantage of Facebook's 'like' feature, while a scam spotted in May used hidden code to spread spam posts on user walls.