Girl Commits Suicide. The headline was enticing-- a teenage girl was so shocked by a Wall post by her father, she had no recourse but to kill herself. But, if you were duped into clicking a friend's wall post, you are not alone. Many people were led to a Facebook Apps page, where their accounts automatically "liked" the posting, and proceeded to spread the scam via their own Facebook Wall, reports Techie Buzz.

Facebook Password Reset. A seemingly legit email turned into a identity theft nightmare for millions of Facebook users in March, prompting antivirus software developer McAfee to warn the public of an epidemic scam. CNET reported a message appearing to come from Facebook was alerting users to change their password. Upon activating an attached password stealer, their Facebook accounts became compromised. The phishing scam effected Windows users primarily.

Free Facebook Credits Scam. For the Facebook gamer, the credit is the lifeblood of their farm, city, or Texas Hold'em table. But, some unsuspecting users were taken for a ride when they clicked a link promising free Facebook credits in exchange for a like. Rather than fund their own accounts, the thieves sent users to a website with manipulated Google AdWords links; as Facebook users clicked the links, actual money made its way into their AdWords coffers, says AllFacebook.com.

OMG, I Hate This Scam. Want to see who was checking out your Facebook profile? The OMG scam promised just that, offering a link to an alleged Facebook app which would clue you in to who Facebook stalks you most often. The problem, we soon learned, was such an app does not exist; the end result was OMG spam on your Wall, and your friends'  Wall, and their friends' Wall. I admittedly got caught up in this one. Read more at Switched.com.

Free iPad! Unfortunately, for the tech hungry, this scam preyed on those in this digital divide without an iPad: Sign up for a free iPad giveaway, tell your Facebook friends and participate in a special offer. Voila! iPad at your front door. But, in reality, the prey in this scam got a lot more than they bargained for, reports The Guardian. Victim's cell phones were charged $10 a month until they unsubscribed, while their friends brought into the scam dealt with the same. Oh, and they never received their iPad, either. Ouch.

How to Avoid Scams on Facebook

Learn how to prevent becoming a victim to these Facebook scams. Read More about Facebook scams and how to protect your identity, and your social networking friends.

The purpose of this is certainly not to scare you away from social networking. It's just to make you aware that there are dangers out there that you need to watch out for. Social networking can be all fun and games, just like it's meant to be, if a few precautions are taken.

Sites like Facebook, MySpace and many others are no more dangerous than any other form of online media such as email, im'ing, chat boards, uploading music and videos from a p2p, or browsing personal websites. You still need to keep your eyes open for the same things and beware, because the hackers are out there, just watching and waiting for you to click on their tricks.

acebook Worms

What these Facebook worms all have in common is that none of them are telling you the truth. Another thing they have in common is how they compromise your privacy and the privacy of your Facebook friends. Don't be fooled, just be warned.

• Koobface Virus - It makes you think you're going to watch a funny video or see a funny photo of your friend.
  
• Profileye Worm - Tells you people are looking at your profile which piques your curiosity as to who it could be.
  
• Error Check Worm - Tells you that some of your friends are having trouble viewing your Facebook page.
  
• Facebook Shuts You Down - Instructs you that Facebook has just shut you down because you did something wrong.

Facebook's Not The Only One

Sure, Facebook's been in the news with worms, but they're not the only social networking site that's being targeted, or can become targeted. Hackers are a talented bunch and will find any hole they can. All social networking sites are vulnerable, just as are other forms of online media.

Protect Yourself

Here are some simple things you can do to protect yourself from online problems:

• Use antivirus and adware software - This will only protect you against certain things. It won't protect you against many of the worms that are application based, but it will protect you against some of them (and many other things).
• Only Update From a Software Site - If you go to view a video on Facebook and you're told to update your software, think twice. Don't update it from there. If you think you may really need to update your software, go to the website of the software itself and update it.
• Don't Click Strange Links - If you get a message saying something like "Facebook has a message for you, click here", don't click there. If Facebook has something to tell you, they would have emailed it to you. If you have a question about a message you received, email them.
• Ask First - If you're not sure if your friend sent you something, maybe it looks suspicious, ask them. Just send them an email asking them if they sent it before clicking on anything.

Don't Be Afraid

Facebook and other social networking sites are just as safe, if not safer than your standard email client. Definitely safer than downloading music or videos from one of those peer to peer sites. Safer even than browsing some people's personal websites. [\p]

These are not the kinds of worms or virus' that shut down your computer or anything like that. These just send out messages to your friends using your own friend list, or something similar.

Social networking has, in some ways, replaced email. In some ways it's better; less spam, more people get the message. As long as you're careful, social networking can be a great way to make friends and network.