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Social media scams are nothing new, but right now there are three specific Facebook scams that are spreading.
For cyber criminals, what's the easiest way to reach the most people with one scam? Facebook. With more than a billion users, Facebook has become an easy way for scammers to rip off as many people as possible at once -- and in a variety of different ways.
Here's how to spot some big scams that are making the rounds and how to protect yourself.
3 Facebook scams to watch out for:
1. "Secret Sister"gift scam
It's also illegal.
- You've probably heard some version of the phrase, "if it seems too good to be true, it probably is." Well, that same rule of thumb applies to Facebook and every other social media site, email chain etc. Any promise of a huge return on a small investment is probably a scam!
- One warning sign that a post or offer on Facebook is a scam is if has one of those all-caps titles you can't miss -- claiming you're eligible for some "GREAT" offer, deal, discount, opportunity etc. -- and then it explains how you can "claim" the offer by sharing, signing up or even paying a fee. Don't fall for it.
Lottery scams come in all different shapes and sizes. On Facebook, the way it typically works is you get a message from someone saying you've won a huge lottery on Facebook -- but in order to claim your prize, you have to wire a payment to cover "insurance" or other fees.
If you wire the money, it's gone. Plus, the scammers will likely continue to harass you for more "fee" payments, claiming you'll get more money in the end, but you'll just wind up wasting more money.
Even if you receive a message from a friend, never send any type of payment or wire transfer without confirming whatever it is you're paying for over the phone or in person. In some cases, criminals have hacked people's Facebook accounts and sent messages as those people -- in order to fool their friends into handing over money.
- Never send money to someone for a lottery "prize" or any other offer that requires you to pay in order to get a bigger prize or money back. It's a scam.
- If you get a message from a friend on Facebook about winning something, or anything else involving sensitive information, call the friend directly or email them through a different platform in order to confirm what was sent in the message. This could also alert your friend if their account has been compromised.
- Never wire money to someone you don't know or can't confirm if the transaction is legitimate.
- These types of scams prey on seniors in particular, so it's important to carefully monitor older family members' money if you think it's necessary or that they could become a victim of a scam like this. Here are 7 senior scams to watch out for and Clark's tips to avoid them.
Even if an offer that seems too good to be true comes from a legitimate source on Facebook -- or appears to -- it's still probably too good to be true.
This one has been around for a while and Southwest even posted about it on the company's Facebook page back in 2011.
The way it works is you see a post claiming that some big airline is giving away free flights for a year or some other big offer that sounds INCREDIBLE! All you have to do is share the photo, like the page and post a comment to win.
While figuring out that you fell for a scam and didn't actually win free airfare for a year is a bummer, the bigger problem is when Facebook users see fake offers like this and end up clicking on a link posted by a criminal -- which could expose everything in your computer or mobile device to the scammer on the other end.
- Don't believe offers that are too good to be true from any airline or big company on Facebook. If you think it may be real, go to the company's website directly -- not through Facebook.
- If you want to make sure a company page on Facebook is real, hover your mouse over the blue check mark on the profile page. If the page is legit, you'll see a pop-up that says "Verified Page." If you don't see that, then someone has created a background image to make it look like the page is verified.
- Another way to check if a company is legit is to go directly to the website and see if there is a phone number to call and/or a street address listed that you can verify.
- Always be cautious before clicking on a contest or other offer link via Facebook. If you can get to it by going to the company's website directly, do it that way. It's much safer.
- If you receive an email claiming to be from your bank or other company that has your personal information, don't click on any of the links. It could be a scam. Instead, log in to your account separately to check for any new notices. You can also call the company about the information sent via email.
- Responding to a text from a number you don't recognize could also make any information stored in your phone vulnerable to hackers. Do some research to find out who and where the text came from.
- If you get a missed call on your cell phone from a number you don't recognize, don't call it back. Here's what you need to know about this phone scam.
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