Friendster or fraudster? DICT warns vs fake social media site
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) warned social media users that the rebirth of Friendster is fake as the supposed revived website was found to be a phishing site.
DICT Cybersecurity Bureau’s National Computer Emergency Response Team (NCERT) said that the website's Internet Protocol (IP) address had previous reports on cybercrime such as phishing.
“The ‘new’ Friendster appears to be a legitimate website but upon initial investigation, the current IP address hosting the website (23.106.120.84) had previous reports about phishing, brute force and DDoS attacks, hacking, and host exploitations,” the NCERT said.
The website also does not include an "About Us" page, NCERT pointed out.
“Having said that, there is a possibility that the said website is being used for phishing,” it added.
“Do not click suspicious links to avoid future potential threats. Do not register to this website because your data may be compromised,” NCERT warned.
Friendster was once the most popular social media networking site in the Philippines prior to Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. It began operating in 2004 but shut down in 2015.
