A Facebook application has the ability to harvest the details of users from around the world, causing one source to highlight the increasingly common problem.

The dubious-sounding application "sex sex sex and more sex!!!" has nearly 300,000 fans, which is enough to persuade many that it is a safe and harmless thing to join, though it is redirecting people to the less friendly fucabook.com, according to Rik Ferguson of TrendMicro.

It is well disguised as the true Facebook, he added, which may prompt people to renew their privacy settings.

Mr Ferguson continued: "Always check the URL displayed in your browser's address bar before entering any sensitive information.

"Also check the true destination of a link before clicking it, by hovering your mouse pointer over it. If it looks suspicious, don't click it."

Recently, a burglar who stole someone's laptop, mobile phone and Nintendo DS taunted his victim on Facebook via her own account, updating her status with bragging comments regarding his new acquisitions.

More than half of small businesses (53 per cent) believe that the most important benefit of outsourcing is guaranteed response times for IT support. London-based Connect conducted the research in 2007.