'Rogue friends' spark MySpace fraud alert

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If a member accepts a rogue friend, a pop-up window appears on their screen which looks like a genuine Automatic Updates box.

If the member then clicks on this box it downloads a virus to their machine. Security company McAfee fears the virus makers, who appear to be based in Malaysia and Ukraine, have found a way to take over MySpace members' online accounts in order to commit fraud.

Greg Day, of McAfee, said: "If people add the friend, and there are lots of different names being used, they open themselves up to all kinds of problems.

"The people behind this attack can effectively take over their machine and use it for whatever they want."