The Internet Crime Complaint Center has posted new scam alerts for January 7, 2013

The Internet Crime Complaint Center has posted new scam alerts for January 7, 2013. Please see the attached report for the full details. It is a must read for those wanting to stay ahead of the game.

~Black Knight

Report:
IC3’s Scam Alerts for January 7, 2013
http://www.ic3.gov/media/2013/130107.aspx

The BULLDOG Estate

Misinformation – My Birthday Calendar

Snopes has this listed as FALSE, and guess what? I fully agree with that finding. HOWEVER, let me set the record strait. I firmly believe almost ALL Facebook Applications are aggressive information collectors/ thieves. So if you are going to pass around the status shown in the photo, you’d better edit out the one application named and generally warn your friends away from ALL Facebook Apps. See attached Snopes report. 😉

~Black Knight

Report:
My Birthday Calendar & Holiday Card List
http://www.snopes.com/computer/facebook/birthday.asp

Extra Info:
You may want to read these as well.
Data Use Policy → Other websites and applications
https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/your-info-on-other

Sold out soon as you load most apps the first time.
“When you connect with a game, application or website – such as by going to a game, logging in to a website using your Facebook account, or adding an app to your timeline – we give the game, application, or website (sometimes referred to as just “Applications” or “Apps”) your basic info (we sometimes call this your “public profile”), which includes your User ID and your public information. We also give them your friends’ User IDs (also called your friend list) as part of your basic info.”

Facebook Platform Policies (Section II:5)
https://developers.facebook.com/policy/

The BULLDOG Estate

Looks like Facebook is about to change things up again

Looks like Facebook is about to change things up again. They’ve already rolled out a new “Timeline” format for users in New Zealand. -Quote: “The new design simplifies the two columns of updates into one and turns the timeline headers at the top into clickable tabs.” See the attached reports for more information.

~Black Knight

Reports:
Facebook begins rolling out new single-column Timeline with greater emphasis on messages [Updated]
http://thenextweb.com/facebook/2013/01/08/facebook-begins-rolling-out-new-single-column-timeline-with-greater-emphasis-on-messages/

Facebook May Launch New Timeline Design
http://blogs.cio.com/facebook/17679/facebook-may-launch-new-timeline-design

Facebook Timeline Change: It’s Starting
http://mashable.com/2013/01/08/facebook-timeline-change-new/

The BULLDOG Estate

Advanced Alert – General Warning

Advanced Alert – General Warning

Scam artist will be actively looking to exploit Facebook users due to the current roll out of updates to the Timeline. Don’t fall prey to them. See the attached resources.

~Black Knight

Things to Avoid:
1. Facebook post or apps that claim you can remove/ delete/ do away with your Timeline.
2. Facebook post or apps that claim you can revert back to the old Timeline or Profile.
3. Facebook post or apps that claim you can change the color or theme of your Timeline and or profile.
4. Facebook post or apps that claim they will give you the New Facebook Timeline.

Resources:
Timeline Changes Are Coming – Beware of New Scams
http://facecrooks.com/Scam-Watch/Timeline-Changes-Are-Coming-Beware-of-New-Scams.html

Remove My Timeline – Facebook Spam
http://facecrooks.com/Scam-Watch/remove-my-timeline-facebook-spam.html

Beware Remove your Facebook Timeline scams
http://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2012/05/29/beware-remove-your-facebook-timeline-scams/

Beware of ‘Remove Timeline’ Facebook Scams
http://www.pcworld.com/article/249071/beware_of_remove_timeline_facebook_scams.html

Scammers hope you hate Facebook’s Timeline
http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/technolog/scammers-hope-you-hate-facebooks-timeline-118028

Archived Scam Sniper Articles
The Facebook Timeline: What You Need To Know About Getting It, Scams And Removing It.
http://scamsniper.blogspot.com/2012/03/facebook-timeline-what-you-need-to-know.html

Facebook Timeline Removal and Color Change Scams.
http://scamsniper.blogspot.com/2012/02/facebook-timeline-removal-and-color.html

The BULLDOG Estate

For Animal Rescue Advocates-Understanding -Security Check-Captchas

For Animal Rescue Advocates: Understanding “Security Check-Captcha’s” prompts and other account restrictions on sharing.

by The BULLDOG Estate on Monday, 7 January 2013 at 15:07 ·

There appears to be quite a few messages floating around Facebook that state Facebook is blocking or deactivating animal rescue advocate accounts. The messages, in all their CAPS glory, are a bit misleading, I’m sorry to say. If you’re an animal rescue advocate stop and think for a minute: Why would Facebook all of a sudden want to block you? Do you think Facebook wants to go up against every animal rights organization or animal shelter on the planet for blocking their advocates from simply helping animals? Yea, umm, Facebook has its problems, I’ll give you that, but really, come on.

Actually what appears to be happening is that Facebook’s “Anti-Spam” system is flagging users who are, let’s say, a little too trigger happy with sharing or friending, or whatnot. If you’re getting “Security Check” or “Captcha’s” prompts, or other account restrictions on sharing and friending, YOU MAY NEED TO SLOW DOWN YOUR TRIGGER FINGER. Try this: Instead of posting 15 links or whatever every 5 minutes, post 5 links or whatever every half hour or so. In between posting, go do something else like chat with your friends, read the news or play a game. Do something that makes you look like a HUMAN. By posting/ sharing/ friending/ whatever too much, too fast, you are making Facebook treat you like a spammer or spam bot. See here: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151150214876582&set=a.393092036581.180205.335587996581&type=1

It is also possible that Facebook’s “Anti-Spam” system is detecting spam like activity from your account due to a rogue Facebook Application, malware or a malicious browser plugin on your computer. If you’ve come in contact with the aforementioned, the bad guys could be using your account as a spam bot. To solve the issue you need to check and clean both your Facebook account and computer. See Here: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151141164431582&set=a.393092036581.180205.335587996581&type=1

There is also a chance Facebook’s “Anti-Spam” system is once again hopped-up on something and is incorrectly flagging users, links or actions it shouldn’t, on certain accounts or parts of the service. If that’s happening then you will either have to wait it out or try to get Facebook to pay attention to the problem by submitting a bug report here: https://www.facebook.com/help/326603310765065/

How do I know this?

I’ve been on Facebook as Black Knight for more than 3 years, Scam Sniper a whole year before that and before Facebook was even born I was troubleshooting and repairing computers, their software and networks. So let’s just say I know my Schmit. Not only that, but I’ve only capitalized each letter at the being of a sentence, one whole word and one line in this 5 paragraph “quick note”. I’m not some over excited Schmuck, I’m just a human trying to help other humans, by breaking bread with a little knowledge. 😉

~Black Knight

Since March 2010 we’ve been taking a “No Bull”, “No Holds Barred” approach to scam fighting.

The BULLDOG Estate