Today's Facebook Follies

The latest round of Facebook scams involves bogus clothing giveaways and an moreover depraved twist on a "sex" video from previously this week - even as the company teams up with Microsoft to provide Skype video calls.

The social-networking service

The social-networking service, which has replaced the wider Web as the primary Internet experience for a large part of its 750 million members, is full of scams trying to steal members' time, money and identities - even as many don't realize Facebook is such as perilous as the Web beyond its walls.

Cluley's colleague Paul Ducklin fears that the addition of Skype video chats to Facebook will just make things worse. He worries that scammers will use Skype to target gullible Facebookers with "stranded in London, need money fast" pleas, or fake tech support calls, especially if the video is bad enough to blur faces.

After all, hackers have used Voice over Internet Protocol telephony to hack into celebrities' voicemail, bother police with bogus emergency calls and socially engineer database breaches. There's no reason they couldn't do the same with Facebook Video Calling.