It’s taken some time, but Facebook has begun flagging a viral scam that tricks people into sharing a post that does nothing but help hackers and scammers.

You’ve undoubtedly come across “OMG IT WORKED” posts from friends. The posts claim that copying and pasting the text into a post of your own will prevent Facebook from accessing your information, remove ads, and allow you to see more posts from more of your friends.

This week, Facebook began flagging or tagging some of those posts as “False Information.” Those posts are no longer visible unless the user specifically clicks on “see post.” Of course, copying and pasting the text will do nothing. Some of the posts claim a local television station even reported on it.

Here’s how the scam works: By posting the exact text, hackers can search Facebook for keywords such as “OMG, it worked” or “Yessssssss.”

Searches then return all Facebook users who have posted the text publicly. Scammers can then target those users in some ways, including cloning their accounts and sending fake friend requests to all their friends.

Some posts will attract comments from scammers offering to remove malware and return accounts to victims; this is also false.

They’ll either ask for money upfront or send links to install malware on the users’ computers. They may also send messages, emails, and texts to the posters and their friends that look like Facebook logins.

Scammers spot gullible Facebook users who fall for tricks like this and figure they’ll be easy targets.

The hope is that flagging these posts as “false information” will reduce the number of people clicking on and sharing them.

The question is: “Why did it take so long for Facebook to flag the posts?” They’ve been around since at least 2012, and many other posts get flagged daily with the same “false information” tag.

I reached out to Facebook but am still waiting to receive a response.