Waiting for the Other Shoe to Drop on Facebook

Shopping tip of the day: don`t take free shoe offers on Facebook at face value. One look at the page that asks for a Like & Share tribute will give you an idea of what it`s like to walk in Loubouscammers or Blahnitricksters.

Putting our hippest foot forward, we get caught in a truly enlightening convers(e)ation on manners.

This is where we find out that it`s polite to wave and smile or just nod (but not click!) when we see a good old couple we all know: Mr. Like and Mrs. Share, also known as the `blind love pair.` Heartwarming as this encounter might be, let`s just move on. This is a chance to remember Ma`s advice on how to respond to kindness (free Converse giveaways clearly falling within this category). So, Do say Thanks! The rest is just comments”¦..

Or not? The social plugin we`ve been eyeing makes comments slightly more visible to your friends. Remember the “action corner” on your Facebook profile? It`s the live streaming of your friends` social actions.

So, if some friends missed your Share about the giveaway, they might pick up your “Thanks + other words of enthusiastic praise.”

For an idea of how lucky you actually are when facing such technologic astuteness, take a look at how boringly simple the classic free shoes scam looks like: famous brand meets blind share meets blind like. Wham-bam thank you barefooted socialites! All six and a half million of you!

Small detail that might work wonders: the last button indicates how many people are on the offer page at that moment. That`s like looking at the window of a store and seeing customers inside. Doesn`t that help you decide to go in?

Once in, you get an amazing view of a quiz maze that apparently blocks your way to a phishing form. Talk about boldness! They`re actually expecting you to work hard for the chance to hand your PIN and personal info to strangers.

At the beginning of this year, we had a fashionable encounter with the Facebook t-shirt. Guess what? You may now get the shoes to go with that scam.

Nice personal info collection attempt, banking on the Facebook memorabilia myth. This is a dead-end, for you. Step 4 of the shoe delivery system is missing, but when you click the ads in that area the data you may have provided in the form might be gone”¦.

This article is based on the technical information provided courtesy of Tudor Florescu, Bitdefender Online Threats Analyst and Andrei Serbanoiu, Bitdefender Analyst Programmer.

All product and company names mentioned herein are for identification purposes only and are the property of, and may be trademarks of, their respective owners.