Iranian hackers try to hack U.S. military through Facebook

(KYMA, KECY/ CNN) - Facebook says it has disrupted a group of hackers targeting the U.S. military after creating fake social media profiles.

The hackers reportedly created those fake social media accounts and sent malicious links to victims in an attempt to spy on western defense contractors and military personnel.

The plot included targets in the UK and Europe and the campaign was apparently linked to the Iranian government.

According to Facebook, the hackers often posed as aerospace and defense firm representatives in order to build relationships with targets. They would then direct their targets to fraudulent websites designed to steal data and scan computer systems.

Facebook says it's hard to know how successful the espionage campaign may have been.

The company notified the users that may have been targeted and blocked links on its platform to websites controlled by the group.