Facebook Offers? More Like 'Fake-book'

Facebook, the increasingly ubiquitous social networking site, can now add the dubious distinction of becoming the latest battleground between identity thieves and potential victims.

A wave of fake "fan pages," affinity-based profiles used to promote companies, artists and other organizations, has splashed across Facebook, leaving users vulnerable to scams that collect personal data that could be used in identity theft. Most of these gambits for personal data collection involve generous but bogus gift card offers — often for $500 or $1,000 — at companies that include Ikea, Whole Foods and Wal-Mart. While there's nothing new about the scam's premise — spam e-mail has long served as a conduit for similar fraudulent offers — they are still a bit of a novelty on Facebook.

A Facebook spokesman said the company has taken significant steps to combat the problem, from deploying extra software engineers to ferret out fake pages and developing automated programs that can detect this type of suspicious content.

The companies in question are now posting information on their own web pages about becoming an authentic Facebook fan. Whole Foods, for example, also posted a list of stores that have their own Facebook pages to prevent customers from unwittingly signing up for a fake page. Facebook users, though, should follow the same advice doled out generously by identity theft prevention professionals: If it looks too good to be true, then it probably is.