Facebook board member and investor Jim Breyer had his Facebook profile hacked over the weekend. According to PeHUB, Jim's account sent a message to his 2,300 or so Facebook friends over the weekend, asking them, "would you like a Facebook phone number?" The message also contained a link to "see more details and RSVP."

Any of Jim's friends who clicked that link and entered their Facebook passwords to "RSVP" promptly found themselves in the same situation. Awkward! A Facebook spokesperson told PeHUB, "this was a phishing scam and Jim's account appears to have been compromised. The issue has since been resolved and we're actively trying to block this activity."

The timing of the hack couldn't be much worse as, per what now feels like a once-a-season ritual, Facebook is currently under heavy scrutiny for its privacy practices. Consumer Reports blog Consumerist attacked Facebook this morning in a post titled, "Five Scary Facebook Monsters Just Waiting To Grab You." It listed:

  • "Your information is being shared with third parties"
  • "Privacy settings revert to a less safe default mode after each redesign"
  • "Facebook ads may contain malware"
  • "Your real friends unknowingly make you vulnerable"
  • "Scammers are creating fake profiles"

Yikes! We don't think anybody will quit Facebook over those threats, but it could prevent them from disclosing as much information about themselves as they do now.

That's a threat to Facebook because someday (it hasn't happened yet), it's supposed to revolutionize the marketing world by selling more effective advertising based on everything it knows about its users.

[Republished from www.businessinsider.com]