Fan Check Virus….Fact or Fiction

Within the past week, my Facebook account has been seeing a lot of posts warning people of the dreaded Fan Check virus.  But is this really a true virus?  Well after a bit of investigation, it turns out that according to security experts at Sophos, the dreaded Fan Check virus is, in fact, not a virus at all.  It will not download any malicious software to your computer or turn your computer into a Zombie and become part of a Botnet.  However, that does not mean that this bit of software is completely benign and can be used without fear.  Although it is not a virus, it is an incredibly poorly written application that can cause chaos on your Facebook page.  Your Wall could become all jumbled and be unusable as well as other problems to your account.  But again, this is not a malicious software, aka virus. But don’t fear as, as of the date of this post, Facebook has taken Fan Check down and is investigating.

The fact that it could cause unwanted things to occur on your Facebook page is not the real ominous evil behind this application.  Because of the increased chat regarding this subject on the internet, it has opened the eyes of scammers and as a result, malicious sites are popping up all over the place.  By doing a Google, Yahoo, or Bing search for “Facebook Fan Check”, you will receive a large number of hits regarding this subject. But do NOT click on these returns. Why? Because a large number of these pages that are returned from the search, point you to malicious websites.  Scareware is the primary concern and danger.  Clicking on one of these sites will cause a pop-up to occur, which states that your computer is infested with viruses and that you should download their software to clean your computer. THIS IS A SCAM!!!  You are not downloading a virus scanning software, but instead, you are downloading malware, specifically, a Trojan Horse.  This will now open your computer for all kinds of annoying pop-ups, or even worse, other Trojan Horses, spyware, and worms to get into your system.  So stay away from the temptation of searching for “Facebook Fan Check”, as it could spell the beginning of the end of your computer happiness.

HERE is what Snopes.com has to say about it……