After targeting FaceBook and MySpace, hackers have now come out with a fake YouTube page creator program to infect unsuspecting surfers, according to security experts at PandaLabs.

Our sister site, AccountingWEB.co.uk, reports that the YTFakeCreator kit was uncovered last week and makes it easy for cyber-criminals to create spoof YouTube pages. They then send out spam e-mail messages containing a link to promised excitements, but as with the MySpace and FaceBook lures, the victim is then confronted with a dialogue box telling them they need to download an update to see the video.

YTFakeCreator lets the user enter bespoke text for error messages and set parameters for how long it takes the message to appear. It will also create a false profile similar to those in YouTube to pretend the video has been uploaded by a real user. If you're brave enough to have a look, examples are available on Panda's (legitimate) Flickr.com page.

"This type of program has led to the increased use of this technique to infect users," said PandaLabs technical director Luis Corrons. "The fact that the pages used by criminals are very difficult to distinguish from the legitimate pages helps ensure that a growing number of users are infected."

Panda Security's Infected or Not? Web site offers an online service to check if your computer is infected by malicious code.