Facebook users are being warned of a new email scam that experts say could be the smartest yet to hit the social network.
A message purporting to be from Facebook informs the user their account will be deleted in 24 hours unless they provide email, password and credit card details, security website hoax-slayer.com reports.
The sophisticated phishing scam is more dangerous than usual as it mimics the process used by Facebook to weed out trolls and abusers of the service’s terms of use.
Users are warned not to click on any links that contain the message: "LAST WARNING: Your account is considered to violated (sic) the policies that are considered annoying or insulting to Facebook users."
Should a user click through on the attached link, they will be requested to hand over personal information on forms that look like official Facebook pages.
Online security company Sophos, who warns that social media companies will not request such sensitive information, says the scam is aimed at stealing a user's identity.
"Social media venues would not request financial information, nor would they request login details," they wrote.
"Once a criminal has gained access to a victim’s account, they will likely lock out the original account holder by changing account passwords and email addresses. With the credit card information, fraudsters can conduct identity theft and other malicious financial activity."
While social media sites will send emails warning users about violations of their code of conduct, any that request personal information should be reported to site administrators.
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