Are Facebook Hackers Posting Insults on Users Walls?

Rumors in Facebook-land are never in short supply. A rumor in May 2012 claims that hackers are posting on people’s walls, insulting their friends. Those re-posting this message are doing so to assure their friends that any such insults did not come from them. But is this a real threat? Let’s take a look at the post itself.

WARNING!!! Dear FB Buddies . . . Watch your wall. Tell your friends . . . Hackers are now on FB writing insults on your friends’ walls. Such insults are made to appear as having come from you. You don’t know nor see it but your friends do. As a result, they have deleted you from their list of friends. I want to assure you that if you get something supposedly from me that’s offensive, it certainly didn’t come from me. Copy and re-post to warn others about this and please let me know if you see something from me.

The only evidence regarding this rumor we’ve found is the rumor itself. In urging others to “copy and re-post” is a telltale sign of rumor proliferation. By looking at the rumor, we see there isn’t even a reason why hackers would go through so much trouble, unless it were a practical joke. Doubtful. Not one person we’ve found has ever seen such an insult posted on a Facebook wall. We’re chalking this one up to nothing more than an unfounded rumor.

That said, there are certainly instances where malware Facebook apps will post on people’s walls without their permission. There was also an infamous incident last year where those who clicked on a link would have the link put on their wall, but they weren’t able to see it. This was not, however, the insult “incident” as claimed in the rumor above.

Move on. Nothing to see here.

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