Facebook is loved far and wide by scammers. It's a great pool of an almost unlimited amount of victims, most of whom are gullible enough to fall for the most simple scams. Shooting fish in a barrel! Better yet, a bunch of these Facebook users are "endorsing" the scam giving it even more credibility. Incredible isn't it?Most people think of Facebook as this secure, walled garden where nothing bad can happen because Zuck is watching out for you. Think again. There are a whole bunch of different categories of scams out there laying in wait. Many of these are recycled with small updates on a regular basis. Here are the different flavors of scams:
- Account related scams
- Free stuff from third parties
- Benefit from (fake) news
- Curiosity Traps
Now, Zeljika Zorz over at net-security.org has done a great write-up of many of these and I will link to her article at the end. Here are a few that I am quoting:
- Account related scams
- Free stuff from third parties
- Benefit from (fake) news
- Curiosity Traps
Now, Zeljika Zorz over at net-security.org has done a great write-up of many of these and I will link to her article at the end. Here are a few that I am quoting:
"Facebook changes its look and functionalities often, but a lot of users dislike any kind of change. This normal human tendency is often misused by scammers who offer bogus Facebook Timeline deactivation options.
"An even greater number of scams targets those who aren't satisfied with features offered by the social network and are tricked into believing that there are ways to add functionalities such as the ability to view who checks out their profile more often, view who has deleted or unfollowed them, to see how many hours they spent on Facebook, to post again their first post, to add a Dislike button, to change their Facebook color theme, and even to add a Facebook security app to guard their accounts or to try a Facebook 2013 Demo app.
"An even greater number of scams targets those who aren't satisfied with features offered by the social network and are tricked into believing that there are ways to add functionalities such as the ability to view who checks out their profile more often, view who has deleted or unfollowed them, to see how many hours they spent on Facebook, to post again their first post, to add a Dislike button, to change their Facebook color theme, and even to add a Facebook security app to guard their accounts or to try a Facebook 2013 Demo app.
"Next we have the scams that profess that Facebook is giving out something for free: an official Facebook T-shirt or mug to celebrate the social network's birthday, the random $50,000 reward, free Facebook Credits, or even a free mobile recharge.
"Lastly, there are scams that try to scare users into doing something because Facebook is closing all accounts, will close theirs because of overpopulation, will start charging users, or the Facebook Security Team will suspend their page.
"It's also good to know that Facebook-themed scams - and especially phishing attempts and malware-infection attempts - can often come in the form of fake Facebook notification emails - password change notifications, account cancellation (or deactivation) warnings, offensive comment notices, friend requests, and so on." Read the full article at: http://www.net-security.org/secworld.php?id=14252
"Lastly, there are scams that try to scare users into doing something because Facebook is closing all accounts, will close theirs because of overpopulation, will start charging users, or the Facebook Security Team will suspend their page.
"It's also good to know that Facebook-themed scams - and especially phishing attempts and malware-infection attempts - can often come in the form of fake Facebook notification emails - password change notifications, account cancellation (or deactivation) warnings, offensive comment notices, friend requests, and so on." Read the full article at: http://www.net-security.org/secworld.php?id=14252
