(Image source: zscaler.com)

BY LIAM KEEGAN

Facebook and Washington State are suing a Delaware advertising company over “Like-jacking”.  KIRO explains why the tech titan and the state gov are teaming up to accuse Adscend Media of advertising trickery.

Here's KIRO.

“It’s called Like-jacking, drawing Facebook users to the popular Like feature and then enticing them to click on a website that can lead to identity and credit card theft.”

“Like-jacking” is a spin off of the term “click-jacking”-- which IT blog Naked Security explains is a gimmick that tricks users into sharing the virus with their friends, before leading them to surveys that ask for credit card information.

“No matter where you click on the webpage, whether it be ‘Lady Gaga found dead in hotel room’, ‘Japanese Tsunami Launches Whale Into Building’, naked photos of a female popstar or ‘101 Hottest Women in the World,’ you are actually clicking the Facebook Like button and further spreading the spam.”

And it looks like it works. According to TG Daily-- like-jacking has been pretty profitable for Adscend Media.

“According to the state attorney’s office, the practice earned as much as $1.2 million a month for ad network Adscend Media.”

Facebook says it will use “all tools at our disposal” to make sure the like-spammers don’t invade your newsfeed. But a blogger for The Register says-- actions speak louder than words.

“Despite the tough talk...Facebook hasn’t often used the significant bundles of cash at its disposal to pursue scammers through the courts. A notable exception came in October 2010, when a federal court awarded it a massive $360.5m in a case against prolific spammer Philip Porembski.”

The current lawsuit calls for damages and civil penalties against Adscend. Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna says the suit could result in millions of dollars in fines for the accused “like-jackers”.