.
Facebook Scams
Tara Struyk
Takeaway: In 2011, Facebook had more
than 800 million active users, making it a virtual candy store for
cybercriminals. Find out how to spot Facebook scams and hoaxes before you
become a victim.
https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/types-of-scams/dating-romancecertificates
to Starbucks hit Facebook in October 2011, they achieved viral status as users
clicked and shared to get the deal.
What
most failed to notice was that there was no deal – the offer was a scam that
attempted to gain personal information from Facebook users, putting them at
risk of identity theft and other related cybercrimes.
In fact, almost all Facebook scams have common red flags
that can alert users to their danger. When using Facebook, stay alert, and keep
an eye out for these common hallmarks of a hoax.
1. Sensational Headlines
Many Facebook scams lure users in with headlines that would
put most tabloids to shame in their use of celebrity names, sex, curiosity and
exclamatory punctuation.
For example, one scam presented a video along
with the title “WTF?! I Lost ALL Respect for Miley Cyrus After Watching THIS
Video!”
Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately), rather
than producing the promised video, this scam took users to a fake Facebook
page, asked them to fill out a survey and may even have prompted users to
download dangerous files to their computers.
Sensational headlines can be hard to resist,
especially when they go viral and appear all over Facebook.
Resist the urge to click any links that promise
a shocking video or image.
In most cases, these links don’t lead to the
scandalous goods they promise, and they are more likely to put you in an
awkward situation of your own.
2. Offer Is Too Good
To Be True
Have you ever heard of a corporation giving
away thousands of $100 gift certificates online?
That’s
exactly what a Facebook scam that claimed to be from Starbucks offered users,
many of whom not only took the bait, but shared the scam with their Facebook
friends.
Many
Facebook scams appeal to our desire for free stuff; unfortunately, getting
anything for free is rare, which may explain why so many people fall for these
scams in the first place.
Some
scams sink even lower by appealing to our emotions and sense of compassion, as
in one hoax that claimed that a young boy would receive a free heart transplant
if enough users chose to “Like” or share the circulating post.
While
it’s easy to understand why people are compelled to click such messages, stop
and think before you do so. If the message’s promise seems unlikely, it
probably has ulterior motives.
3. Strange
URLs
Many Facebook scams take users to another
page. These pages may look like official company sites, or even like a Facebook
page, but anytime you are sent away from Facebook is a red flag.
If
you’ve clicked a link and are sent to another site, check the URL that
appears in your browser bar.
When
you are visiting Facebook, it should always show http://www.facebook.com as the first part of the
URL.
Scammers
may resort to using similar URLs, so check carefully and avoid prompts to login
to Facebook from any URL other than http://www.facebook.com.
If
you are sent to a different site that you don’t recognize, close the page
immediately.
In
many cases, odd or misspelled URLs are another clue of a hoax.
In
the Starbucks scam, some users were sent to a page with the URL http://ilovestarbuck.com.
Do
you really think a company would misspell its name in its own marketing?
4. Cut
and Paste
Any message that prompts you to paste a
code into your browser is a sure sign of a scam.
This
is because Facebook’s policies disallow running JavaScript within
Facebook.
Prompting
you to paste code directly into your browser is a way for scammers to
circumvent this prohibition.
JavaScript
is banned on Facebook for good reason: it can send users to a malware-infected
page, or even automatically launch malware on a user’s computer.
5. Upgrade
or Download a Program
Downloading a program or uploading upgrades
to a program from Facebook can also introduce malware and other viruses to
your computer system.
Any
link that prompts you do download a file of any kind should be avoided.
Facebook isn't in the business of keeping your PC up to date!
If
you do need to download a program or update an existing program, always go
directly to the website of the company that produces the software.
6. Bad
Grammar
For whatever reason, many viral Facebook
scams use not only sensational headlines, but those headlines often contain
poor spelling and grammar as well.
For
example, one link that appeared on Facebook in December 2010 sported the
following title: “OMG...YOU WILL CRY TODAY AFTRE WATCHING THIS HORRIBLE THING
HAPPEND CALIFORNIA...!! IF YOU FROM USA THAN HELP THIS MAN. Warning: IT’S NOT
SUITABLE TO WATCH FOR HEART PATIENT.”
Notice
the number of spelling and grammatical errors in this one headline. This is a
sure sign of a Facebook scam.
In
this case, there was no video, but some users may have found themselves crying
anyway after providing the scammers with the right to email them, post to their
Facebook wall and access all their Facebook data.
7. Asks
for Info
Although marketers often do request that
consumers fill out surveys in exchange for contest entries or prizes, this will
always occur on the company’s official Web page.
Anytime
you are prompted to fill out a survey and enter personal identifying information,
you should be extremely cautious - particularly if you accessed the survey
through Facebook.
Many
Facebook hoaxes that promise gift certificates or other benefits have prompted
users to enter their names, addresses, phone numbers and other personal information.
Needless
to say, these users never got a gift certificate, but they did put themselves
at risk by providing so much information to potential cyber criminals.
In Conclusion
With so many users,
Facebook is ripe for scammers looking to launch malware and attain personal
information.
Fortunately,
you can determine whether a link, offer or anything else that appears in your
feed is legitimate with just a little investigation.
If
you still aren’t sure, enter the title of the content you are tempted to click
into Google.
If
it’s a scam, chances are that Internet hoax busters are already on the case.
Written by Tara Struyk
Tara Struyk is a senior editor at Techopedia.com and a freelance editor, blogger and writer for hire. She specializes in writing about personal finance, investing, careers and consumer technology. Likes: The Internet, espresso and running. Dislikes: Typos, debt and domestic vehicles.
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