Facebook users warned over renewed phishing assault

As Gray Lady's fashion blog gets pwned

Facebook users are facing a new wave of phishing attacks following a previous barrage in April.

Fraudulent messages from already compromised accounts on the social networking website attempt to trick users into handing over their login details to one of a series of fake sites. The assault follows the pattern of a previous similarly-focused attack last month.

The sites associated with the attack this time around include www.151.im, www.121.im and www.123.im.

Staff at the social networking website are removing messages that link to dangerous sites as well as helping to turn over control of compromised accounts to their rightful owners. Facebook's FAQ on security can be found here.

Security watchers speculate that cybercrooks are interested in getting their hands on Facebook login details because many consumers share the same password across multiple sites. The theory runs that access to a profile on a medium-sensitivity site, such as Facebook, could be a stepping stone on the way to owning a more sensitive online banking account or similar tasty miscreant treat.

In other social networking security attack news, the Twitter profile of the New York Times fashion blog (The Moment) was briefly taken over on Thursday to punt links to a webcam smut site to its 510,000 followers. Control of the profile was quickly restored to its rightful owners, who have since apologised for the cock-up. ®