Facebook is joining forces with the Washington Attorney General to combat the scourge of ‘clickjacking’ that often manifests itself on the social networking site.
The practice of clickjacking often sees some sort of offer or promotion presented to users, but the clickjackers add code to these links that hide the ‘Like’ button, meaning that as soon as you click on the link to find out more, it’s already been ‘Liked’ and shared with your entire network. In turn, your friends will see that you’ve liked something and will possibly deem it safe by recommendation, so they go ahead and click on it, propagating the cycle even further.
Facebook are accusing Washington-based marketing company Adscend Media of the unwanted spam-causing practice in a lawsuit announced last week. Rob McKenna – Washington State Attorney General – has also filed a separate lawsuit accusing Adscend Media of clickjacking.
“We don’t ‘like’ schemes that illegally trick Facebook users into giving up personal information or paying for unwanted subscription services through spam,” said McKenna. He went on to praise Facebook for their stance on the issue: “We applaud Facebook for devoting significant technical and legal resources to finding and stopping scams as soon as possible, and often before they even start. We’re proud to join forces in order to protect Washington consumers.”
Have you ever been caught out by a clickjacking scam? Tell us your stories by leaving a comment below, and let other SocialSafe readers know what to be on the lookout for.