Facebook connects old friends almost as well as it apparently connects cyber criminals. According to researchers, black markets are only a few keystrokes away in Facebook.
According to NBC News, researchers uncovered more than 70 Facebook groups openly selling black-market cyber fraud services, some of which they say had been running for up to eight years. The now-removed groups had more than 385,000 members in total and offered a variety of illegal services, from credit card information and identity theft to website hacking and email phishing, according to cybersecurity researchers at Talos, the threat intelligence division for the technology company Cisco.
By conducting searches for well-known fraud terms, the researchers exposed a sizable online black market hiding in plain sight on the world's most popular social media site. "Selling CVV fresh $5" read one post for stolen credit card numbers. "100k mail list fresh" touted another from the "Professional Spammers and Hackers" page.
As has become customary, Facebook apologized for another instance of fraudulent activity involving it's network. "These Groups violated our policies against spam and financial fraud and we removed them," a Facebook spokesperson said in an emailed statement. "We know we need to be more vigilant and we're investing heavily to fight this type of activity."
