Did I get your attention? First and foremost.. nothing is going to happen on Halloween.. it is just ironic I am getting to this post up and it happens to be Halloween.  So Happy Halloween.

  This past week I experienced a virus on my facebook with a worm.. and I don’t want ANYONE to have to go through that under any circumstance if at all possible. I am going to share my journey through the dark side of social media.   The week was a dark Cosmic Cow Pie mess!
 

  I have always been careful with never opening an attachment on an e-mail from someone I don’t know or something that looked strange.  I have therefore, never gotten virus on my computer.  I was not so lucky this past week with the facebook worm.  I should have known better with looking harder at a direct message from a friend. I will summarize some of the things I saw that made me open a link which contained the worm.

  I was aware there were worms that could attack facebook friends and send out messages from my account directly to my friend base.  A couple of my friends had experienced this in the past and they just changed their password and it was taken care of.  So I knew the solution to the problem if it ever arose.  As a courtesy when it happend prior, I would go to the wall of the friend I had received a strange message from and post a warning that their facebook might have been attacked. So you see I was aware this happened and what to do in the event it happened to me. 

  I never dreamed it would happen to me.. but here is how it came down.
 
1.  I received a direct message from a friend with wording that a professional would NEVER write… So I deleted the message and wrote on his wall, I thought he had a virus by reading the subject line below on the direct message. He had written a warning on his wall to all his friends.

   Nice!! YYour boooty llooks greeat on tthis videoo!

  Jack   posted: Someone infected my facebook with a spam link. Do not open

  Carra Riley posted:Yes… I was just coming to warn you! Bummer.. happened to Frank G lender in Denver… he changed his password.

  Jack posted: Changed passwords and cleaned out my computer with a virus scan. It did put a worm in my outlook, so hopefully everything is now good. Thanks.

  2.  Got another direct mail from someone I knew was friends with Jack but got excited because it said she saw me on the news.  Yes, I do create videos and was hopeful she was sending me breaking news! I did not put two and two together to think that his worm had spread to his friends and now it was coming back to me through a mutual friend.  It was not the same subject line… so that threw off my thinking process.  It was waddling, It was quacking, it was a duck!  VIRUS duck!

  Congratuulations! You are on newss!   Was the subject on the direct message
Waddling.. the person sending it to me does not engage on my wall.
Quacking.. look at the double letters uu ss those are clues it could be infected.

  Actually, when it opened it had a clip of a video I had created on geocaching.. so I kept watching as it unloaded into my computer.

  Once I figured out it had a virus it was too late.  The good thing for me was my computer anti virus told me it was the ”koobface worm” and it quarantined it so it did not get to my outlook address book.
 
3.  Now for the nightmare.  I immediately posted on my wall about the attack.
Carra posted: I have gotten a couple of direct messages asking about a video with statements like this…” I didn’t send any video. I suspect someone has spammed you. “…. someone did post a video on my wall which I deleted.. 2 friends had problems today and sent strange videos and I DID NOT send any videos… the wo…rds on one DM were not what I would expect from them so DON”T open links that sound strange… they are. Please Do not open a DM from me.

  I posted this information on my wall directly from facebook hoping people would read the wall if concerned something was not right with a direct message from me that was STRANGE.
 
Suspicious Posts and Messages Be wary of strange Wall posts and messages,even if they’re from friends. These will usually ask you to click on a link, sometimes to check out a new photo or video that doesn’t actually exist. The link is typically for a phony login page or malware site.

  from facebook help… reset your passwords if you think you opened this The Koobface Worm If your account has been used to send spam, and you think your computer is infected with the “Koobface” worm or another virus, please visit one of the online anti-virus scanners from the Helpful Links list, and reset your password.
Messages or posts were sent from my account, and I didn’t send them.It is possible that malicious software was downloaded to your computer or that your password was stolen by a phishing website designed to look like Facebo…ok. Please carefully follow the steps provided:

Run anti-virus software: If your computer has been infected with a virus or with malware, you will need to run anti-virus software to remove these harmful programs and keep your information secure.
For Windows:
http://www.microsoft.com/protect/viruses/xp/av.mspx http://www.microsoft.com/protect/computer/viruses/default.mspx
For Apple/Mac OS:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1222Read More

  I stared getting direct messages from many people and the worm just would not go away.  I reset my password TWO times and it was not until the 3rd time when facebook directed me to reset it through the process of not remembering a password that process worked and it did stop.  I thought since the computer anti virus got it that it did not go to my facebook friends and that is WRONG… it went to the facebook friends but was stopped at the computer entry.

  Below are some of the statements the worm used on the direct messages from me. 
The worm sent it out to 25 people at a time so when anyone replied or commented it went to all 25 people. There was a link to a porn site below all these different statements.  Some of my friends got 2 or 3 direct messages and some did not get any.

  Learning point: when you see a DM going to 25 people with a strange topic… it is probably a worm!
 

Saw thaat videoo yesterdayy… How couuld you do suuch a thingg?

  Nice!! YYour boooty llooks greeat on tthis videoo!

  Saw tthat vvideo the oother daay… Why did you do thatt?

  Woow! Is thhat rreally you in thhat video??

  You wwere caaught on our seccret cameraa!

  Hollyy shitt! You are on TV!

  Congratuulations! You are on newss! 

   Below are some of the responses I was getting from friends. YES, I had a huge pitt in my stomach about these as I answered each one individually!
 
Hi Carra – when I clicked on – they say that it was deemed abusive or something. So – I don’t know why…let me know if you have any other comments on this

  Carra what is the virus like/what does it do? I also clicked on the link and got the error message before the replies started.

  sorry Carra.. but my anti virus program says this link is a trojan virus and it won’t open it… you might check

  Did you send me this message? You wwere seeen on our secrret cameraa!

  If you did fine I am just cautious about about opening peculiar emails and links.

  Saw thatt viideo yesteerday… Did you reallly do thaat?

  I have sent NO videos, I was just alerted to a virus take whatever actions to delete I have sent nothing!!

  I didn’t send any video. I suspect someone has spammed you.

  Thanks for the info. It’s a new world out there.

  Gang, this is a facebook hack. Carra did not really send this. Don’t click on the link.

  I saw the email. It wasn’t too hard to figure out from the letters that there was something odd about it. Secondly, it wasn’t a personal letter. I just hope this doesn’t happen to my friends from me!

  Saw thaat viideo the otherr daay… Did you rreally do that??

  Dear Carra,
I don’t know how to place videos on FB. I can put up slide shows. Oh, I can *share* videos. But, they are always ones I have _already viewed_ from people I trust. I understnad you were having a problem with security. It is not coming from me.
this is a virus I think!

  yes it is a virus. My computer just alarmed me.

  What the heck?

  Carra, I’m not sure what I did about all this. I did get a message that what I had clicked on was no longer available or some such directive, so I think I’m OK. We click on stuff going from point to point connecting the dots, etc. ….and now we have to watch carefully each step we take in cyberspace. Don’t want to get paranoid, BUT….yikes!

  Sweet!! Yoour boddy lookss grreat on thhis videoo!

  thanks for the virus!

  Woow! Are you reallly in thhat vvideo?

  good luck. should I be worried about an infection now?

  Nope I received several this morning from other people too. Guess they hacked my site too?

  Could you all stop replying to all..

  It’s been happening a lot on FB . . .

  Saw thaat videoo yesterdday… How coulld you do ssuch a thiing?

  Carra, got you message but no idea what you are talking about it……?

  Carra this has hidden virus in it

  carra, is your email sending a virus?

  What video??

  I did get a FB from you …..”How could you do that ” ??

It had a virus ….did u sent ???

  what are you talking about? ?????

  Thanks for the “heads up”

  I just deleted it-I knew I shouldn’t be on any videos…

  I received it this morning early from Carra but never opened the link.

  Carra, did this come from you-when I tried to open saw arabic-type letters,not sure so closed, recently got something from another FB person-NOT sent by him – so – just thought I’d check???

  Saw thatt vvideo the otheer dday… How couldd you do succh a thing??

  What video are you talking about? The only video’s I’ve posted lately are target shooting, and the warm fuzzy one about the dog & elephant

  You werre caugght on our ssecret cammera!
i
well… tried to click on the link and was told it was reported as being abusive.. I find that interesting considering who it came from..

  Carra, No worries on the DMs. I would think most people should know what it was and just delete it. Looks like curiosity go to the best of some of them. Anyway-hope you are well. See ya round the web.

  I knew instantly you didn’t send that so I deleted it.

  Please Don’t Open! This is a bad trojan virus

  I wouldn’t fret too much. While inconvenient, just change your password to something more secure and carry on to see if it continues.

  I think they have been hacked. Seems like everyone is sending out a link to a porn site. Do we all need to delete out accts?

  unless you really caught me on camera (LOL) I think you need to change your password, I received and email from you here saying that & with a link. Have a great day Carra!

  Just got a DM from you—not! Spelling gave it away and being warned by you about the problem. They really have to get a life! Sorry.

  I rec’d an email from your FB this morning with links and something about a video..just thought I’d let you know.

  Somebody is messing with you. I just received another one stating “You were caught on our hidden camera”

  Thanks forthe heads up however I opened an e-mail from you this morning but closed it after reading your message. Sounds good to be on the right track. Thanks.

  YIKES!!! I fell for it! Should I be worried? I closed the browser a second or two after it opened when I came to my senses!!! This just happened a minute or two ago, so maybe not everything was fixed?

  I stupidly clicked on the link. That’s SO unlike me! I ran a full system scan today, and it didn’t find anything (Norton Internet Security), and I DID change my facebook password, so I’m hoping I’m okay!

  Hi Carra, I recieved an email from your acct today without a subject, and the message was “Saw thatt vvideo the otheer dday… How couldd you do succh a thing??” I understand that the link takes you to a site that will attempt to trick the recipient into downloading a virus most likely described as a flash player upgrade or something similar…. 

  not me – I received on from Carra Riley – some one is up to no good

  I received it this morning early from Carra but never opened the link.

  It’s been happening a lot on FB .
 . .
A couple of my friends did have some help suggestions.
 
I felt really bad as one of the friends was new from linkedin.. and this happens. Below is an excerpt from his message to me.
Alexis Wilke You can find some more info about me here: http://www.m2osw.com/press

The URL is http://www.m2osw.com/

Made to Order Software Corporation Home Page
Source: www.m2osw.com
I posted a note about passwords and a tool one can use to safely keep password on his/her system. Maybe you’d want to mention it. Also, it helps you with determining the strength of your passwords.

http://new.m2osw.com/keepass

  Chris Compton Hey Carra/Pat; if you get a virus again, give my company a call. TCR Solutions, Inc. @ 574-1935. We are an IT Consulting Firm and can help remove unwanted viruses, spyware, etc… BTW: Pat sold my wife and I our first house 14 years ago!

  Now for the latest warning from a friend who just received an appointment to the National Association of REALTORS Risk Management Committee for this next year!
 
Derec Shuler I’ve received four notices today that Facebook has reset my password and to open the attached zip file for the information. Note to all, it’s a hoax and a virus.
I hope this summary helps you become alert to the Dark Side of Social Media.

  Watch outa and be alert.. there are big Cow Pies flying all around the Cosmos…  

Cosmic Cow Pie

Carra Riley

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