Malicious Ads Are Flooding Facebook: Here's How to Stay Safe

When an ad seems "too good to be true," there's usually a catch, and one of the worst kinds gives you nothing but malware. If you're on Facebook, you should keep an eye on what advertisements you click on, as the site is currently under attack from malicious ads designed to trick you into downloading a virus.

Malvertising Campaigns Strike Facebook En-Masse

Credit: Bitdefender

As reported by Bitdefender, bad actors are currently bombarding Facebook with malicious advertising (also known as "malvertising"). Worst of all, their attacks are growing by the day:

The malvertising campaign that has been wreaking havoc on Meta platforms for at least a month is continuously evolving, with new ads appearing daily. The SYS01 InfoStealer malware has become a central weapon in this campaign, effectively targeting victims across multiple platforms.

The main goal of the SYS01 InfoStealer malware is to harvest your Facebook login information. Once it gets its hands on your username and password, it then accesses your account and uses it to post more malicious ads. Its main goal is to steal business accounts, as those get far more visibility than users do. However, it doesn't seem too picky about what it grabs.

How to Stay Safe From Facebook Malvertising

The bad actors creating these fake advertisements are banking on one thing; your inability to spot a scam. Because the cybercriminal doesn't have to deliver on any promises, they'll make extraordinary claims in their ad in a bit to amaze people and get them to click on them.

Bitdefender noticed that the majority of these malicious ads "offer" you a free version of a popular app or service. For example, it may claim that you can get Photoshop, Netflix, or popular video games at no cost. Of course, these sound too good to be true, because that's exactly what they are. If you see them, never click these ads, no matter how tempting they may be.

If you do accidentally click one, don't fret. While it may download a file to your device, you have to run it to be compromised. As such, just delete any files that the website downloaded and you should be fine. And while you're at it, check out the other common Facebook scams to keep yourself safe on all fronts.