Facebook Color Change Scam App

A Facebook app making the rounds claims to be able to change the color of your Facebook profile from boring blue to something a little more exciting...but it's a harmful scam.

Cheetah Mobile Security, an online security company (whose legitimacy I cannot vouch for), posted that this popular Facebook Color Scam is going around again.

They report that when you use this app, it redirects you to a phishing website, which asks you to watch a video to learn how to change the profile color. Instead, it gives hackers access to your profile, and allows them to spam anyone you are Facebook friends with.

If you don't watch the video, it redirects you to download two different forms of malware, one within a 'pornography video player' (which is somehow different than a regular video player?) and the other through a supposed 'antivirus app' which is...not an antivirus app at all. All bad.

So, if you somehow believed you could change the color of Facebook, and felt it necessary to do so, all is not lost. Go into your Facebook settings, select 'Apps,' delete the Color Change app (and any other stupid apps you don't need) then go change your Facebook password.

And while we're at it, the new Facebook messenger app is not the devil incarnate seeping into your smartphone, it simply asks for the same permissions as most apps you download to make it possible for you to load photos, call, voice command, etc. directly through the app. (I haven't downloaded it because I don't want to, and have no intention on downloading it. Just use Facebook through your phone's browser if you want mobile access to Messages.)

Happy Facebooking!