One of the Internet's most popular social networking websites, Facebook, has been hit by scammers trying to lure users to a number of fake websites which ask for their passwords and login details.

Once those details have been obtained, the fraudsters can access people's personal Facebook profiles - which in turn give them access to family, friends and business associates and offer them the chance to spread the scam even further.

Last week users started receiving personal messages titled "Hello", originating from their friends and family. The messages encouraged users to visit websites which were set up to resemble a Facebook login page, asking for their login details, including passwords.

Some people may be at risk of having their e-mail accounts or even online banking accounts hacked, as they use the same password for all online resources.

According to the website checkfacebook.com, which keeps a comprehensive record of how many people worldwide are using the social networking site, South Africans account for 1.4 million of Facebook's approximately 200 million users worldwide. This means South Africa has the most Facebook users on the African continent.

Technology website, Techtree.- com, reported last week that the scam did not appear to be installing malware - malicious software which is downloaded onto users' computers without their knowledge or permission - and was presumed to be "in the stage of collecting user credentials".

This fraudulent collection of people's personal login details is referred to as "phishing". It is not clear how many Facebook users have been affected.

A spokesperson for the website said the scam was "not widespread and only impacted on a tiny fraction of a percent(age) of users".

Facebook spokesman Barry Schnitt told American television network MSNBC at the weekend: "We've been updating our monitoring systems with information gleaned from the previous attacks so that each new attack is detected more quickly."

The social networking site has updated its security tips, urging users to reset their passwords as soon as they become aware that spam messages have been sent from their account.

This is the third time in a month that Facebook users have become targets of a phishing scam.