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Facebook closes door for spammers

Elinor Mills CNET News | September 8, 2010 4:35 AM PDT

Summary

Facebook has closed a hole that was being used by spammers to automatically post wall messages and direct messages to friends.

Topics

Facebook, Mozilla Firefox, Spammer, Spam, Security, Spam And Phishing

Facebook has closed a hole that was being used by spammers to automatically post wall messages and direct messages to friends.

Just clicking on the link to one of the applications that were taking advantage of the bug would allow the auto-posting to happen, Facebook said on Tuesday. The apps, which appeared to be sending people to a survey web site, were disabled on Monday.

"Earlier this week, we discovered a bug that made it possible for an application to bypass our normal CSRF (cross-site request forgery) protections through a complicated series of steps. We quickly worked to resolve the issue and fixed it within hours of discovering it," Facebook said in a statement. "For a short period of time before it was fixed, several applications that violated our policies were able to post content to people's profiles if those people first clicked on a link to the application."

For more on this story, read Facebook closes hole that let spammers auto-post to walls, friends on CNET News.

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Setup facebook Email http://goo.gl/28YJs
mohangbits@... 18th Nov 2010
Setup facebook Email http://goo.gl/28YJs
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RE: Facebook closes door for spammers
Carrion 8th Sep 2010
Yeah, this one bit me, too. I was getting thank you notes for stuff I had sent my friends, only I didn't send it! Let the beatings begin!!
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RE: Facebook closes door for spammers
rcm0502@... 8th Sep 2010
Spammers will always find another way in...it only going to be an arms race with no real winners
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RE: Facebook closes door for spammers
dfruk@... 8th Sep 2010
Yes but they haven't reinstated the abuse reporting email address and I have no intention of going through their less than helpful online system for reporting porn links from their users.
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RE: Facebook closes door for spammers
rjimu 8th Sep 2010
name the spammers, name the app!
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RE: Facebook closes door for spammers
poppajohn 8th Sep 2010
I solved the problem. I uninstalled Facebook!!
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RE: Facebook closes door for spammers
dragonmago@... 16th Sep 2010
@poppajohn Awesome! How did you install it in the first place?
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RE: Facebook closes door for spammers
warnerpeter@... 8th Sep 2010
I found a very workable solution which absolutely everyone can take advantage of-------------I canceled my FaceBook account! No more privacy issues! Kinda neat don't you think? It's so simple even an Adult can do it!
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RE: Facebook closes door for spammers
jspnc123 9th Sep 2010
Yes. I disabled my facebook account also. So simplistic, so boring!
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The stupid thing is when you want to add like more than 5 friends
hungarian33 9th Sep 2010
then facebook asks if you are a real person. also the limit on 5000 friends is childish i think. still i love playing the most used apps on facebook,

1. poker
2. animal farm
3. www.onlyrooms.com
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RE: Facebook closes door for spammers
Stan57 10th Sep 2010
@hungarian33
You think a limit of 5000 friends is childish????/
HAHAHAHA
You childish for even wanting 5000
HAHAAHHA
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RE: Facebook closes door for spammers
casisevillano 10th Sep 2010
I quit using Facebook since I could not regulate the type of posts were posted by my friend in enough details. I have a sister that posted numerous posts each day about her favorite cause and overwhelmed my Facebook page. It became hers and I got tired of that so I quit Facebook. Nice idea but not regulated enough.
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Setup facebook Email http://goo.gl/28YJs
mohangbits@... 18th Nov 2010
Setup facebook Email http://goo.gl/28YJs

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