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Facebook under threat from cyber crooks

Members of social networking site Facebook are now being targeted by cyber crooks, it has been revealed.

According to online security expert Sophos, cyber criminals are exploiting the popular Wall section of the networking site to expose users to online threats and malicious virus infections.

Hackers are targeting the Wall, which normally contains messages, photos, videos, add-ons and links to other websites, with attacks which come in the form of messages with video links from friends.

Clicking on such a message takes users to a bogus webpage, where they are urged to download a new version of the flash player.

Once the download is complete, an image of a court jester with his tongue sticking out is displayed which, according to Graham Cluley of Sophos, means: "They now own your PC."

Users have been urged to be more careful as once their computers have been compromised by cyber crooks, they can be used for many criminal activities including sending spam or distributing malware.

A similar attack has been directed at X Box live gamers.

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