Facebook groups prone to new sabotage trend

Facebook users in Sweden are being plagued by a new trend sweeping the popular social networking site where names of groups are being changed to titles with vulgar sexual connotations.

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Two female Facebook users were left in shock after joining a group which allowed them to see who had visited their profile.

Without warning the group’s title was change to, ”Those of us who have sexual fantasies about our kids.”

Photos of their children from their own pages were also uploaded to the group’s picture gallery complete with vulgar comments.

Swedish police say this new wave of hacking is on the increase.

”It’s a big game on the internet at the moment,” said Anders Ahlqvist from the National Police Board’s (Rikspolisstyrelsen) IT-crime department to newspaper Aftonbladet.

Names of established groups are being changed to new titles, predominantly of a sexual nature. In addition, new groups are being set up to trick users by later reinventing themselves.

In December, it was reported that a group had emerged to encourage organisations to donate three kronor to heart and lung research.

When the group reached over 80,000 members, the title was changed along with the charitable effort, suggesting members supported the abolition of a woman’s right to vote.

”The aim is to provoke,” the group’s 20-year-old male creator told news agency TT.

”We want to show that you shouldn’t put so much trust in the groups you join.”

Further examples cited include a group originally called, ”Girls against guys – first to 100,000 users” which suddenly became, ”Those of us who have sex with our parents.”

According to Anders Ahlqvist it is not a crime to change the name of a group but to manipulate private pictures can be an offence.

Facebook’s representative in Sweden told Aftonbladet that users who have been affected should report the incidents via the website tool.