Social media scams can take a lot of different forms, but they all have one thing in common; they want to get your money or your private information. Unfortunately, they seem to work well on people who are not aware of how these scams operate, and as such you’re more likely to fall victim if you aren’t aware of their methods and tricks.
By reading this article about social media scams, you can learn how to identify their methods and avoid them like the plague that they are.
What Is A Social Media Scam?
Social Media Scams are often seen in popular social networks like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Social Media Scams usually involve making users click on malicious links that supposedly show pictures of their friends or other interesting content. Most of these websites are made only for infecting users’ computers with malware. The more people you have viewing those malicious sites means more money for those social media scammers.
Unfortunately, it can be very hard to tell whether a link is trustworthy or not. To help you avoid falling victim to Social Media Scams we have collected some tips that can help keep you safe from malicious attacks.
Why Is Social Media An Easy Target To Scammers?
Our personal information is more readily available on social media than ever before. Additionally, many of us already have a network of friends on Facebook or Twitter, making our profiles seemingly trustworthy in the eyes of a scammer. When you add all these elements together, it’s easy to see why so many people fall victim to social media scams. We must educate ourselves about how these scams work and what we can do to avoid falling prey.
How Can You Recognize A Scammer?
The most obvious way to identify a social media scammer is if you’re not familiar with who is messaging you. Whether it’s an account from someone you don’t follow, or one that just popped up out of nowhere, stay cautious as these are often attempts at luring victims into sharing personal information.
It is also typical for social media scammers to use other people’s photos in their accounts, so always check on their profiles that it was taken by them. Most social media scammers will quickly ask for personal information or money when messaged. If you receive messages like these that show suspicious signs, report their accounts right away before any harm can be done. Here are the most common Social Media Scams and How You Can Avoid Them.
Jobs Offer Scam
Job offers sound too good to be true. Typically, they are. Legitimate companies won’t offer you a job before knowing who you are. Social media scammers will often make up names of people in their organization or simply invent names altogether. It’s a great way for them to try and make their message seem more legitimate than it is. If a potential employer asks you for money or payment information before giving you a job, that should set off your scam alert big time.
A Random Lottery Win
Have you ever seen a Facebook post by someone who says they’ve won millions of dollars in sweepstakes that you’ve never heard of? A Nigerian prince wants to transfer millions of dollars into your bank account, but only if you send him an upfront fee first? If so, then it sounds like you’re dealing with one of these common social media scams. No matter what they tell you, it isn’t true. The sad reality is that there are scammers out there looking for ways to take advantage of other people online, don’t be their next victim.
Pyramid Schemes
In a typical pyramid scheme, new participants are recruited into a program by being promised wages or commissions for recruiting others. The scheme is doomed from its inception because there are few if any recruits entering after numerous levels of people have been brought in. However, those who get in early may be able to make some money at least for a short time before it collapses.
Pyramid schemes are illegal in some countries due to their inherent fraudulent nature. They should not be confused with legitimate multi-level marketing (MLM) programs. It’s also easy to mistake pyramid schemes for more trustworthy multilevel-marketing programs but that’s often where the fraud comes in. By promising instant wealth, a social media scam artist can separate you from your hard-earned dollars without leaving his home office.
Claims Of Gifts/Giveaways
Fake giveaways are prevalent on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. If you see a free gift or free giveaway on your feed, scroll past it. These posts often have very high engagement because people like free stuff. However, you never have to pay for something if you get it for free. Instead of giving away a prize from a legitimate company, many social media scammers will create fake social media accounts (which is easy to do) that look authentic.
Fake Social Media Accounts
One of the oldest tricks in cybercrime is using fake social media accounts to con people out of money. Cybercriminals often use fake social profiles to pose as organizations, businesses, or individuals (like friends) to scam people into sending money or giving up private information. Sometimes these fake accounts are used only briefly before disappearing, while others may continue being used by cybercriminals for a long time after they’ve been found out.
Fake Software Updates
Scammers will try to trick you into installing malicious software by pretending that it’s a software update for your computer or a popular app. If you see an icon in your phone or desktop that looks like it should be associated with an app but don’t recognize it, just do a quick internet search of its name before clicking on it. Chances are, if there are any legitimate updates, they will be well-publicized online.
Tech Support Scams
If you’re savvy with social media, then you probably already know that there are many Facebook Pages out there purporting to be companies like Apple or Microsoft, offering free downloads. They’re not. They’re tech support scammers trying to get into your PC so they can infect it with malware and then charge you hundreds of dollars for help.
To avoid being a victim, never download a file from an unfamiliar website, especially if it’s claiming to offer something for free. Always look up official contact information for whatever company is issuing these files first. They almost always have their official websites and direct ways of distributing software updates or other services.
Phishing Scammers
If you receive a message, either in email or on social media, claiming that you’ve won a prize but need to fill out a form or click on a link before you can collect it, it’s likely phishing. Never click on any links or forms in these messages. Legitimate companies don’t ask for personal details like credit card numbers through social media or emails.
If someone does, assume it’s not safe. Also, if a website ever asks for your login credentials (often asked during account registration), make sure you are actually on that site by checking its URL (the Web address at the top of your browser) to make sure it matches up with what is showing up in your browser window title bar before logging in.
Deceptive Job Adverts
There are lots of people out there looking for a fast buck by placing fraudulent job ads. They offer high-paying jobs that don’t exist, request large sums of money as an application fee, or require you to pay taxes upfront before you even start work. You can avoid falling victim to these cons if you do your research before making any payments. Think carefully about whether a position is worth what they’re asking. These scammers often try very hard to make their offers seem more attractive than they are.
Sidewalk Surfing
Similar to typosquatting, sidewalk surfing is a practice in which criminals purchase domain names similar to well-known brands intending to collect traffic that mistakenly goes there looking for an official site. Criminals often set up their sites as spoofs of existing websites to trick you into believing they’re legitimate. If you aren’t careful, you could end up logging on or otherwise providing your personal information directly to a scammer. The best way to avoid sidewalk surfing is simply staying away from unofficial pages that claim to be something they’re not and if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
Devices Infected With Malware Popup/Message
These types of social media scams are becoming more common, but fortunately, they’re also pretty easy to avoid. They typically pop up while you’re browsing a website, telling you that your computer is infected with malware and then directing you to a fake malware detection site. The key here is to make sure that any detection software is coming from a reputable source. If it asks for payment or information, then it’s a scam.
The idea behind these attacks is that you click on a link or download a file (usually an update) from a site/URL that will infect your computer with malware. The way you get infected is when you click on that malicious content, which will then redirect you somewhere else usually a porn site, so when your friends try to reach out to you via social networks or email, they’ll end up being redirected as well!
How To Avoid Social Media Scams
Social media scams are most often targeted towards adults with disposable income who believe they’re investing in something legitimate. It’s important to remember that no one can make you rich overnight, or if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. It might sound cheesy, but if it looks too good to be true, it probably is. Now, here are ways of avoiding social media scams.
A simple way to avoid falling victim to cyber scams on social media is, just don’t trust anything you see on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or any other platform especially if it sounds too good to be true. For instance, no one will ever offer you free electronics from China if you send them a few hundred dollars first! It’s always better to give than receive, but in terms of your privacy on social media: sometimes it pays not to give at all.
Don’t Rush Into Anything
The best way to avoid falling for a scammer’s tricks is not being gullible, but unfortunately, that isn’t always an option. Just keep in mind not everyone will have your best interests at heart and try not to go rushing into things before you do any research, especially when money is involved.
Be Careful What You Share Online
While we don’t want to limit anyone from having their voice heard, we would highly recommend exercising caution when posting your personal information online and making sure all of your accounts are as private as possible.
Never Feel Pressured
This goes without saying but there’s nothing worse than feeling pressured into buying from someone by making unrealistic promises just so they can make a sale off of you. Make sure you’re confident in your decisions and only spend money if you feel comfortable doing so, otherwise avoid any sales pitches until later.
Don’t Trust People Outside Of Your Circle
Once again, while people may mean well sometimes they just want to take advantage of our generous nature. Make sure never to purchase anything you trust its authenticity because even those close to us aren’t above taking advantage.
Before Sending Money Ask Yourself Why?
If ever asked to send payment before receiving merchandise you should stop and ask yourself why such a person would ask you to do such a thing? Perhaps they realize their product isn’t great or perhaps it has been poorly advertised. Either way, asking yourself these questions might help save some time and money in learning from others mistakes.
Do Your Research
In today’s internet age researching topics like potential investments should come naturally. So far everything has been going pretty smooth, but now comes a crucial moment: looking up reviews of various products on online marketplaces like Amazon or eBay. You know where to find positive reviews of their products and which reviews to avoid, so stay vigilant out there.
Trust Your Gut Instinct.
You knew better than to sign up for a get-rich-quick scheme in the first place but despite that fact, you decided to give it shot anyway. But immediately following your decision a feeling began creeping up inside you…and surprisingly enough it was a bad one. Your sixth sense is telling you to reconsider. Perhaps it’s not too late to cancel your order or maybe it’s a simple case of buyer’s remorse, but either way, it’s worth following your instincts here in hopes of saving yourself some money.
Don’t Be Naive.
Unfortunately, there are a lot of social media scammers in the world, but most are not very original, meaning many of them use clichés and generally lazy techniques to separate you from your money. It might be old advice, but it works: if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
Even If You Win, It Still Wasn’t Worth It
Ultimately, you made a choice and in return gained knowledge from that experience. Even if your investment didn’t pay off as intended, you can learn from it and hopefully avoid making that same mistake in future. Remember to ask yourself was it worth it? before spending money on any kind of investment or opportunity.
Unfortunately, in a digital age with instant access to information, there’s a new wave of social media scammers who take advantage of naive people. If you try a quick Google search for social media scams or scams on social media, you can find multiple websites that offer tips and tricks on how to spot social media scammers.
The truth is that sometimes it is not easy to spot these types of scams because some of them are often professionally designed. So, always be careful when interacting with individuals and/or companies through your favourite social media platform. If you found this article useful, don’t forget to share it. You might help save someone else from falling victim to one of these scams.