It seems like a new scam pops up on Facebook every day, and others seem to come and go in cycles.

Unfortunately, one of the most dangerous Facebook scams you’re likely to encounter is making the rounds yet again.

It’s called the ‘You’re tagged in this video!‘ scam, and although there are several subtle variations of it, they all work something like this:

Someone either makes a post on your timeline or sends you a private message stating that one of your friends has tagged you in a video. Naturally, you’re intrigued as to who the friend is and what the video is about, so you click the link to watch it.

After you click the link to view the video you receive a pop-up message stating that in order to see the video, you’ll need to download a software update or browser extension. Without giving it a second thought, you click the link to complete the download.

Congratulations! Your computer is now infected with one or more viruses, trojans and/or other forms of malware!

As always, the only way to truly protect yourself from falling victim to the criminals who perpetrate these scams is to be diligent and use extreme caution when deciding whether or not to click a link. Here are a few tips:  [Read more…]