Facebook’s “Like” button – which gives users the ability to like comments, posts, links and pages – is one of the most popular features on the site. But for a long time, a huge number of people have been asking for the ability to give thumbs down as well – with a “Dislike” button – making it a prime target for scammers. The latest scam involves “the official dislike button”, which in actuality is a rogue application.

Just to be clear – there is currently no such thing as an official Dislike button.

The Facebook Dislike button scam works very similar as many other viral scams on Facebook. So if you see a status update that says “I just got the Dislike button, so now I can dislike all of your dumb posts lol!!” or “Get the official DISLIKE button now” followed by a link – Don’t click it.

If you do click on the link, you end up on the “install” landing page.

If you follow the instructions on this page, you’ll be asked to give the application permission to run, after which you’ll be asked to complete a survey, similar to the surveys found in many other scams making their rounds on Facebook lately. This essentially means that you have just given the app permission to access your personal data and to silently update your status to promote the link and to spread the scam to your friends, without you knowing it. This in itself does not appear to be dangerous – just very annoying. However, when you complete the survey, you are asked to enter your mobile phone number. That’s where the scammers can start making money off of you.

If you’ve fallen for the scam –

So far, a few hundred thousand people have installed the offending app. If you are one of them, here’s what you can do:
Remove the application from your Facebook profile as well as the related message from your status, News Feed, and your Likes and Interests in the “Edit my Profile” menu. Also make sure that your security software is up to date.

So, remember… Don’t give out your personal information and be careful what you click.