While social media is a fantastic way to keep in touch or interact with people, social media scams are everywhere.
Social media scams take many forms, and many are native to one particular platform as Facebook scams, Twitter scams, Instagram scams (separate categories), and more are operating and trying to fleece people of money or use their personal information for nefarious purposes.
Facebook scams include messages from fake profiles, malware hidden in Facebook apps and games that are part of phishing attacks, and classified ad scams in the Facebook Marketplace.
Twitter scams can include emails sent from “Twitter,” and links in messages that are part of phishing attacks.
Multi-Level marketing scams are also common on social media and their empty promises of easy riches.
Social media can be wonderful, but be careful. Keep your eye on this space, and learn about the scams on social media as they emerge.
How the scam works: Similar to the Holiday E-cards scam, this one comes as a downloadable item on your computer or phone. You want a specific song to be your ringtone (or a picture to be your wallpaper), maybe during these holidays. That’s when you go on the Internet and look for it. Unfortunately, several […]
See Who is Stalking You Scam: How It Works Either on Facebook or Tumblr you receive a message on your profile, as a recommendation coming from one of your friends. Your buddy suggests clicking on a link to see who is virtually stalking you. The text might be similar to this: "W000w!! I Cann0t blv that […]
How the scam works: If you are an aspiring singer or a band, one day you might get invited through e-mail, Facebook or MySpace to perform a concert either out of town or as an opening act for a celebrity. You are invited to confirm if you can make it. This is what you’ve been […]
How the scam works: You see online advertising for an upcoming show featuring one of your favorite singers or bands. You want to attend and call the number listed to get tickets. The scam usually has two variations. Scenario 1. The headliner doesn’t perform that night, as he probably never knew his name was listed […]
How the scam works: (with video below) This scam targets musicians, singers and artists and make them believe they have won an award, such as the “Director’s Award” or “Breakthrough of the Month”. The scammers harvest all the victims from websites like MySpace, YouTube, SoundCloud or Facebook, where everybody tries to promote their music, looking […]
How the scam works: Online social networking has become a phenomenon in the last few years. People add friends and connect with old buddies all the time. You might accept people who request your friendship although you don’t know them. What happens is that after being accepted by thousands of “friends” on Facebook or “followers” […]
Shared News Article: How The Scam Works Most of the online articles feature a 'Email This' or 'Share This' button represented by an envelope icon. If you like the content, you can share the post not only on social media but also via email – with someone who might be interested. The majority of […]
Shared Article Scam Installs Malware on Your Computer Read More
Online College Course Scam: How It Works Beware of the Online Course Scam going around these days, coming in the form on online learning platforms. Let's dive in. Are you looking for an online masters in education? A college course? Best online colleges, in general? Or maybe for some distance learning courses? Well, beware of […]
Online Education Fraud: Fake Universities, Colleges, and Masters Read More
How The Scam Works: Facebook constantly changes its design leading criminals to experiment on new scams, relying on the novelty aspect. One of the latest ones is the Facebook Membership, aka Pay for Facebook scam. Scammers require users to pay different monthly amounts (under $10) per memberships of all kind (Gold, Silver, etc). In the […]
Pet Adoption Scam: How It Works (with video below) Be careful if you're trying to adopt a pet. Scammers advertise dogs for adoption all over the Internet. Beware of the Adopt A Pet scam! Let's take a look. You want to get a puppy and come across an Internet post or classified ad from somebody […]
How the scam works: The crooks send emails claiming to be airport employees. In the message, they notify you that a pet is being held at the local airport and request money to pay for vaccinations before the animal can be shipped to its final destination. To make it look more realistic, they also claim […]
How the scam works: You really want to get a date but your confidence is down after losing hair, gaining weight and not feeling like your charisma is what it could or should be. Desperate for a confidence boost, you sort through your spam and order a few patches, liquids and pills. You try them all out […]
How the scam works: Every so often we hear about the killing or the arrest of an infamous person – from Osama Bin Laden and Gaddafi to Bernard Madoff. Scammers use this to their advantage and pose as former partners of the infamous character (someone from the Madoff’s Board of Directors) or soldiers who found […]
How the scam works: You are a creative person and have had a long-life hobby – building gadgets and toys of all kinds. Chances are you probably have some good creations that are worth patenting. If you are considering this, beware of scammers who try to cash in on your work. It is expensive and time-consuming to patent […]
IP Winner Scam: How It Works (with video below) You're on a social networking site checking out what's new with your friends when a pop-up ad informs you that you were selected as a winner of a free X-Box 360 or a gift card! It tells you that you were visitor number 100,000 or had […]
IQ Test Quiz Scam: How It Works (with video below) Scammers hack into your friends' accounts and post a link on your Facebook profile (or email), with titles such as: “Can you beat my IQ of 138? Click here”, "One of your friends sent you this IQ test" or “What is the next number […]
How the scam works: You can’t wait for the grand finale of your favorite TV show, whatever that is (The Bachelor, Hell's Kitchen, Orange is the New Black, etc). A few days before the anticipated show, you get a message (e-mail, Facebook, or Twitter) notifying you that you could be one of those privileged to […]
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