Fake Facebook e-mails target Apple's iPad 3 fans

The lure of a free iPad 3 is too good to be true as online scammers use the buzz surrounding the coming launch of Apple's iPad 3 to deceive unsuspected Internet users, warns Symantec.

The latest e-mail spam, involving a supposed collaboration between Facebook and Apple, promises Netizens the chance of winning a free iPad 3. To make it more convincing, scammers use the e-mail address used to register with Facebook.

They then try to entice potential victims by stating how they have been randomly selected from Facebook's database. The user is then asked to click on a link and fill out a survey, thus providing valuable personal information to the scammers for more spam to be sent in the future. Click fraud may also happen as the scammers make money each time a user clicks on the link to the survey.

Best practises to avoid falling prey to phishing attacks:

- Do not click on suspicious links in email messages;

- Avoid giving personal information when answering an email;

- Never enter personal information in a pop-up page or screen; and

- When entering personal or financial information, ensure the website is encrypted with an SSL certificate by looking for the padlock, 'https', or the green address bar.

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