FASHIONABLE social networking website Facebook has not only caught the attention of Internet users worldwide, but also attracted unwanted attention from spammers and hackers.

This time round, Facebook's popular feature - the Wall, which allows users to post comments and pictures, is targeted. In an update posted last week by Fortinet, a global security research team, the Wall was found to be used by spammers to post deceptive messages, linking to typical spam sites such as the one in the picture above, depicting Canadian online "pharmacy" shops.

Like most social networking sites, experts from Fortinet say that identity thieves like to exploit the sites' vulnerabilities so as to hack into an individual's account for their passwords and personal information.

This information is then sold or rented to spammers, who then use the undiscerning users' account to post messages advertising products on their friend's Walls.

Mr Derek Manky, a security research engineer for Fortinet, said the means of how these accounts were hijacked is still unknown.

He explained: "The theory is that a phishing worm seen in January may have harvested such credentials, so there may be a connection between the phishing worm and these spam-advertised links."

Mr Manky advised users to stay alert when they need to enter log-in credentials. He added that they should always pay attention to the domain name as typical phishing pages will use tricks such as Facebook.com.xx.cn, with the xx.cn suffix being illegitimate for a Facebook domain.

Said retail executive Germaine Ng, 23: "I won't shun away from Facebook just because of this. All I need to do is to be more alert when I come across such advertisements and websites."