Facebook Accounts Sold on Black Market
The New York Times reports that bogus and stolen accounts on Facebook are being sold in high volume on the black market.
During several weeks in February, VeriSign’s iDefense division tracked an effort to sell log-in data for 1.5 million Facebook accounts on several online criminal marketplaces, including one called Carder.su.
That hacker, who used the screen name “kirllos” tried to sell bundles of 1,000 accounts with 10 or fewer friends for $25 and with more than 10 friends for $45. This shows a significant expansion in the illicit market for social networking accounts, according to VeriSign.
Criminals steal log-in data for Facebook accounts, usually by using “phishing” techniques that trick users into disclosing their passwords or with malware that logs keystrokes. They then use the accounts to send spam, distribute malicious programs and run identity and other fraud.