Protect yourself from Facebook scams
GIVEN the rise in Facebook scams, the following article reiterates the council’s continuous efforts to raise awareness on the importance of identifying scams and how consumers can proactively protect themselves.
Facebook is one of the world’s most popular social media platform. Each month, more than 2.8 billion users log in to catch up with friends, share information, get their news, and even shop.
However, the site’s popularity makes it ripe for cybercriminals. With so many active users, fraudsters have a vast pool of potential victims to target. Even if only a fraction of fraud attempts works – that is a pretty big payday for any scammer. According to the US Federal Trade Commission, financial losses from social media scams exceed hundreds of millions of dollars every year. The council has also been receiving cases where consumers have fallen victim to scams being orchestrated on social media platforms, especially Facebook. One such instance is shared below:
Case study
In a recent case lodged at the Consumer Council of Fiji, a consumer received a message via Facebook that she had won a Facebook lottery and needed to pay $500 to clear ‘taxes’ for the winning amount. Unfortunately, the consumer ended up giving her VISA card details to the caller who had also emailed the consumer using a fake email ID of an international bank. Fortunately, the consumer was referred to the council for assistance whereby the consumer was advised that it was a scam and to change her bank details immediately.
The above is just an example of how scammers are using Facebook to lure consumers and trick them out of their hard-earned cash.
So, how can you avoid becoming a statistic? It starts by knowing what the most common scams are — and the steps you can take to avoid them.
Most common Facebook scams today
Cybercriminals are an innovative bunch. They are always coming up with new ways to steal from unsuspecting social media users. Fraudsters most often try to get their hands on your account login credentials, personal identifying information, or bank and credit card information.
They attempt this in a variety of ways:
The excitement of winning a prize is hard to resist. The problem is that scammers know this and use that excitement against you. Sometimes they pose as celebrities, other times as big brands you trust. In all cases, the prize is irresistible. All you have to do to claim your prize is to send a small fee to cover shipping or other processing costs.
The goal is to get you to divulge your personal information and bank or credit card information. Once you do, you never hear from the scammer again, and your only prize is identity theft or an empty bank account.
Bogus job scams
The allure of a high-paying job opportunity might be hard to resist, especially when it comes without having to do anything yourself. However, before you say yes to any unexpected offer, understand this is a common technique used by cybercriminals to extract personally identifying information from you.
If you respond to an offer like this, you will be asked to provide the typical information needed to start any job — your home address, your social security number, and perhaps even a copy of your driver’s license or passport. Unfortunately, this is all a clever criminal need to steal your identity. Instead of a job, you get a financial mess to clean up.
Shopping scams
Facebook has grown from a simple social network app to a robust e-commerce platform. Businesses of all sizes maintain a page and regularly promote their goods and services via sponsored posts.
Unfortunately, cybercriminals capitalise on the popularity of Facebook shopping, too, particularly with scam ads.
Scammers create fake brand accounts to push counterfeit goods. Other times, they create unheard-of shop names with “too good to be true” offers, then push scam ads. These unknown sellers offer goods at ridiculously cheap prices but do not deliver anything at all. Instead, they take your money and disappear.
Fake charity scams
When disaster strikes, it is human nature to want to help. For many, this means donating money. Fraudsters know this, and use crises to reap a quick payday. They create fake charity pages, websites, and even accounts on popular sites like GoFundMe, then promote their “charities” on your Facebook feed. Usually, they ask you to pay via a PayPal account.
Facebook quizzes and games
All those “getting to know you better” and “just for fun” quizzes you see on Facebook seem innocent enough.
However, these scams are anything but innocent. They are all designed to extract the kind of personal information many people use to create passwords or answer security questions for their online accounts.
Cybercriminals know this and use these quizzes to hack into a user’s Facebook account thereby gaining access to your account. It is important to note that they can do a lot of different damages beyond simply taking over your Facebook account.
How to avoid scams on Facebook
There are many things you can do to maintain your safety and avoid becoming a victim. Therefore, the council would like to encourage you to follow these best practices (as listed below) which are also embedded within the Facebook platform to avoid fraudsters.
1. Lock down your Facebook privacy settings
To avoid attracting unwanted attention from cybercriminals, be sure your account is as private as possible. While you can never hide your profile pictures or cover photos, you can hide almost everything else from those outside your friends list.
You can also tweak your privacy settings in other ways to keep your account safe. Here is how to do so from your computer: i. Open the Facebook app. ii. Click on the down arrow (on iPhone) or hamburger menu (on Android) in the upper right corner of the screen.
iii. Choose Settings & Privacy from the menu.
iv. On iPhone, select Privacy Checkup. On Android, click Settings, which will lead you to another page where Privacy Checkup is. Facebook will walk you through the most common privacy settings, with recommendations for each option.
2. Enable two-factor authentication
One of the easiest ways to prevent unwanted logins on your Facebook account is to enable two-factor authentication. With this in place, anytime someone tries logging in from an unrecognized location or device, they will also have to enter a one-time code in addition to your username and password. This code is sent to your phone via text message or through an authenticator app.
To set up two-factor authentication on Facebook, do the following:
i. Open the Facebook app on your computer.
ii. Click on the down arrow in the upper right corner of the screen.
iii. Choose Settings & Privacy > Settings > Security & Login.
iv. Scroll down to Two-Factor Authentication and click Edit.
You will be able to set up a secondary method of authentication, based on your preferences.
3. Decline a friend request from anyone you do not know
This is an easy one. Get in the habit of declining friend requests from anyone you are not familiar with. Unless you are trying to become a Facebook influencer, amassing connections with people you do not know is unnecessary and unsafe.
4. Ignore messages asking for personal information or money
If you receive a private message from someone you know and they are pleading for help (usually in the form of money), doublecheck with this friend off Facebook to verify the legitimacy of their request.
Logically, if a real friend is in dire straights, they may not rely on such platforms to get help.
If you think that you have fallen victim to one of the scams listed above or come across potential scammers immediately use Facebooks complaints mechanism to flag the matter and simultaneously lodge a complaint with the council via the toll-free number 155 or the Consumer Council of Fiji mobile app.