If you are one of the 500 million Facebook users in the universe, beware: fake sex videos are lurking on the social networking site, tricking users into downloading and installing software that can infect your computer.

A questionable video of former International Monetary Fund Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn with a hotel maid, and A-list celebs Hayden Panettiere and Rhianna were the latest bait on Facebook meant to entrap users, The Washington Post reported Thursday.

But, surprise, Facebook friends: these saucy videos don’t actually exist.

People who click on the link are sent to a website that tries to install the fake antivirus software, ComputerWorld reported, with varying scams depending on whether the victim is using a Mac or a PC.

“On the PC, the site tells victims that they need to install the latest version of Adobe Flash Player to watch the video. But the software they install is actually the fake antivirus program,” the report said.

A security blog, Sophos, was apparently the first to reveal the scam, explaining that if a user were to click the link, he or she would be taken to a webpage, which appears to consist of a still from a sex movie.

“However, when I visited the page on my Apple Mac I was rapidly redirected to a ‘Mac Defender’-style fake anti-virus attack, written specifically with the intention of infecting my computer,” Sophos blogger Graham Cluely wrote on May 31.

Fake anti-virus attacks have mostly targeted Mac users by poisoning search engine results, Cluely said, but they are also now being distributed by viral Facebook spam campaigns as well.

Sophos warned that if you click on the link from a Windows computer, it's possible you could be taken to a web page that attempts to infect you with the Troj/Mdrop-DMN Trojan horse.

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Erin Harrison is Executive Editor, Strategic Initiatives, for TMC, where she oversees the company's strategic editorial initiatives, including the launch of several new print and online initiatives. She plays an active role in the print publications and TechZone360, covering IP communications, information technology and other related topics. To read more of Erin's articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Carrie Schmelkin