Phishers are attempting to steal Facebook details through a fake mobile app offering free gaming credits, according to security firm Symantec.

"Teenpatti hack" claims to offer Android and iPhone users 50,000,000 chips to use on the legitimate Teen Patti poker app if they enter their Facebook username and password.

Avdhoot Patil, senior antifraud analyst at Symantec, said: "Phishers are continuing to focus on social networks as a platform for their phishing activities.

"Fake social media applications in phishing sites are not uncommon."

The attacks resemble similar ones the company has reported on, including a phoney Asian chat app and a fake polling campaign that targeted Facebook users.

Once a persons’ details have been entered they are redirected to a page that tells them to wait a day for the chips to be credited to their account, leaving the phishers enough time to steal information from them.

Symantec advises users to check the URLs and links to email messages, and ensure that websites handling personal or financial information are using an encrypted SSL certificate, as indicated by a padlock symbol in the address bar or the use of an HTTPS protocol.