Social media users should watch-out for a Facebook Messenger scam doing the rounds that will potentially trick them into providing personal information or be affected by malware and other dangerous cyber threats.

How the scam works:

Victims receive a personal message from a friend via Facebook Messenger with what seems to be a video link accompanied by a few emojis and a short description asking if it’s you.

For example; ‘Is that you’, ‘look what I found’, ‘It looks like you’ or ‘it’s you’. (see image)

When the victim clicks on the link to the video they will be redirected to a spoofing page that requires the victim to enter log in details for Facebook or other online accounts.

The aim of this scam is to obtain sensitive data or install malware on the device.

How to protect yourself:

• Do not click on the links received in random messages.
• Check the URL at the top – make sure it’s the right page.
• Notify the friend by other methods (such as calling or emailing) instead of responding via the same chat
• Update Facebook security settings and change passwords.
• Get devices (mobile phones or computers) checked if you have clicked on the link to video.