Why Typing “Amen” on a Facebook Post Might Set You Up to be Scammed

Typing Amen on Facebook posts might seem like a harmless thing to do. But you could be helping to perpetuate scams and misinformation. Emotional posts that tug at your heartstrings can be hard to ignore. Unfortunately, many of them are fake images or stories, using manipulative techniques to gain comments and engagement.

Let’s take a closer look at the Amen Facebook scams and how they work.

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How Do Amen Facebook Scams Work?

Sometimes when you’re scrolling, you might come across a sad story or cute image with a caption that prompts you to “send prayers” or “say Amen.” If you resonate with the story, you might leave a positive comment in the hope that it might do some good.

However, commenting on these posts can do more harm than good. Additional comments drive engagement, which is used to improve the monetization of the account. The owner of the account also now knows you are susceptible to emotional posts and may target you with further interactions, e.g., inviting you to groups and pages.

Once the page or group in question has a huge following, they may start sharing scams, misinformation, or targeting potentially vulnerable members.

How AI is Driving More Emotional Manipulation on Social Media

With the rise of generative AI, these types of scams are more prevalent than ever before. Many now use AI-generated videos of animals, such as an elephant saving a puppy’s life. This unlikely scenario is shared and commented on over and over, increasing the page’s engagement and ability of the creator to monetize the content.”

Signs of an Amen Facebook Scam

Watch out for poor-quality, grainy photos and videos or ones that seem like they can’t possibly be real. They most likely aren’t. However, some images will be real and may even be linked to genuine stories. With that in mind, other things to look out for include:

Emotionally manipulative language such as, “If you have a heart, share now,” or “Only bad people won’t comment Amen on this post.”
The same posts and stories, shared over and over. Many scammers will have multiple pages and try the same techniques on all of them.
Pages that are relatively new or seem to suddenly change topic or focus. For example, if you followed a recipe page that now shares dramatic stories or images of cute animals, it’s probably a scam page.
Pages that only have this type of “Say Amen” or “Send Prayers” interaction with their followers.

Commenting in this way won’t help the people or animals in the videos, and you could be helping to grow a page that will benefit online criminals.

Ways to Use Facebook More Safely

Make sure the pages that you follow are legitimate. Check if they interact with followers in more ways than “Share and comment” posts. You can also use the “About” info on Facebook to see if the page has an associated website or an owner who’s a real person.

Importantly, if you see posts stating that you’re only a good person if you comment or share, then scroll on by. People who genuinely want to make a difference will never use this type of emotional manipulation to do so.

Amen Facebook scams aren’t new, but they are getting more convoluted thanks to the addition of video and AI-generated content. Keep up to date with how these scams are evolving by signing up for Scam Detector’s Scam Alerts. You’ll get information about the latest online scams straight into your inbox, so you know exactly what to look out for.

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