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: You come across an ad that catches your eye, as someone whose teeth have yellowed from years of smoking: “Read this before you think of cleaning your teeth again”. You click the banner and it takes you to a site filled with testimonials and “before and after” shots. You have been […]
How the scam works: Let’s say you have been a long time Conan O’Brien fan. You “like” his Facebook page and follow him on Twitter. One day, you get a message or a letter informing you that you won an invite for two – to attend a free Conan O’Brien show next month, as a […]
How the scam works: Never open a Twitter mention notification (of you) coming from somebody who has a very sexy woman as a profile picture. Since Twitter doesn’t allow users to send direct messages to somebody who is not following them, the scammers tag you in their spamming posts, in order to get your attention. […]
Facebook Video Calling Scam: How It Works Facebook recently launched a new video chat service, called Video Calling, which is powered by Skype. Taking advantage of the hype, scammers came up with a fake video chat application, which is a replica of the official feature. Whenever you try to open the fake application, you […]
How the scam works: You hear about some tragic news and you would like to see the exclusive footage online. Examples? Whitney Houston drowned in her bathtub, Osama Bin Laden’s burial at sea, or Steve Jobs collapsing. The title catches your attention and you are required by scammers to either install software in order to […]
How the scam works: You are tempted to get yourself a great brand name watch you found online, such as a Rolex. It is an amazing deal. You are not sure if this is a scam or not, but decide to purchase it, as it looks good in the pictures and there is a “money […]
> Webinar Registration Scam: How It Works (with video below) You have your own business and you are trying as hard as you can to find new ways to bring customers to your website. Then, one day, you come across a webinar that promises to send you free 100,000 visitors, plus a list with […]
How the scam works: There is a scam that goes around on social networking sites every time there is a major tournament, such as the soccer World Cup, Stanley Cup, Super Bowl, NBA finals, the Olympic Games, etc. First there is a simple contest, such as, “who won the last World Cup?” or “In which […]
How the scam works: There are scams that most agents pull on new clients, regardless of the industry in which they operate. In the writing business, one of the things agents do is to charge ridiculous amount of money just to read your stuff. The “reading fees” go as high as $600 and you might […]
How the scam works: Scammers hack into your friends’ accounts and tag you in a series of links that get automatically posted on your Facebook wall – let’s say five of them, one after another, within a few minutes. Then, using your e-mail address found on your info tab, they’ll send you an official-looking e-mail saying […]
How the scam works: If you have a small business and use Google Adwords to promote it, you might receive an e-mail (from scammers) informing you that your campaign has stopped running. In order to resume it, you need to log into your Adwords account. The message provides a link to click in order to […]
How the scam works: If you have not yet received an email similar to the one we are about to tell you about, you probably will, so be aware. Scammers hack into email accounts and send a message to all the contacts in the address book: "Hi Dear, just writing to let you know my unexpected […]
Cheating Partner Scam: How It Works Imagine this scenario. One day you get a Facebook message, email or phone call from somebody claiming she/he wants to help you. After introducing themselves they say the reason for the call is that your partner (they will give your partner's full real name) is cheating on you. What […]
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” […]
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