Category: Social Media (Page 1 of 4)

There is no end to the scams I see on Facebook. I know I’ve posted at length about specific FB scams, but in this post, I want to run down quickly on a bunch of commonplace Facebook scams. Watch out for these, don’t fall for these, definitely report these:

(Don’t) Buy This Shirt!

This offer may tug at your heartstrings, because they’ve mentioned their son is autistic. But there is no son, and the poster is from another country. The URL will take you to a web-storefront, where you can pay money for a shirt. But it’s at an online marketplace where anyone can quickly open up a shop and have shirts printed:

You might actually get a (lousy) shirt, but please realize that you’re giving your card info to a stranger who may be halfway around the world. The big risk here is getting mystery charges on your card, later on.

Neon for Free

Want a neon sign? You’re not going to get one from these jokers. Their plan is to privately message you, gently guilt you towards making a small donation, and then disappear with any money you’ve sent them.

Vendor Fee for Non-Existent Fair

Looking to sell your hand-crafted art in your region? Community fairs and festivals are the way to go, but beware generic scam posts as shown below.

While at first glance, these may look legitimate, it’s a lie and a trap. The poster has used Google to find an address commonly used for public events. Any email or phone number provided is not connected to the stated address; they go straight to the scammer. They’ve crafted this post so that people will contact the scammer and not the venue. And if you contact the scammer, they’ll take your “reservation fee” and disappear with it.

Egg Sales

I’ve picked this scam apart before, but it deserves a mention, since I’ve seen it often this month. It’s similar to the above scam, in that they want to privately message you and get an advance payment for eggs. But you’ll be sitting by the door waiting forever for that henfruit. The poster is just using a sock puppet account, as they sit in an internet cafe in Kenya.

Giving Away a Gaming Console

Those PS5’s are super-expensive, so seeing someone giving away one for free on Facebook may seem like a miracle. And even more convincing is to see someone local, someone believable!, posting about how you can have their unwanted video game hardware:

But this type of scam is usually carried out using a stolen Facebook account. If you contact them for the console, they’ll say that they moved to another state, but can Fedex the device to you, as long as you cover their shipping. Once again, if you send them any money, they’ll ghost you and you’ll never get anything in return.

Moving, Everything Must Go

If a real person has to move and sell off a lot of stuff, they’ll give you an address to visit, and a phone number to reach them at. But some posts only lead to private messages, where you are urged to pay a small amount to “hold” the item for you. I think by now you know what’ll happen if you give them any money.

And other “moving” posts lead you to other weird websites or private Facebook groups, where you’ll meet with other scams and attempts at collecting your personal information.

Fake Job Listing

If you think you’ve found your dreamjob on Facebook, think again. Many of them are traps:

A real job listing should state a well-known company name, and will refer you to Indeed.com or some other corporate website. This scam job listing has no real contact info, and will only lead to a fake job interview over chat, and then they’ll try to get your bank account info or worse.

Telltale Signs of a Facebook Scam

• The poster has a locked account, or has turned off Comments to their post.
• They need you to pay them a little bit of money first, to prove that you are not scamming them!
• They won’t meet you in person for a transaction.
• You cannot call to speak with them.
• They want you to use Venmo or CashApp instead of a credit card.
• You meet with resistance when asking for basic info, like a website URL or address or phone number.
• They comment a link to a website, but the URL shows a Google sites address, or something that just doesn’t look relevant.

Anyone who posts to Facebook can edit what they’ve posted. You simply go to the post and click the 3-dots button in the corner, and then select Edit Post. It’s a pretty handy tool, but it’s also being abused in what we can call The Facebook Edited-Post Scam.

Innocent Beginning

The scams starts with some harmless-looking posts, usually appearing in Facebook groups. Here are some examples:

These posts don’t seem to ask for much, so they aren’t likely to trigger your spidey-sense for scams. Sometimes they ask that you care & share, others just encourage you to comment with “Got It!” And many people do what is asked, and then move on.

The Switcheroo

But some time later, the scam develops. After the post has been spread through multiple Shares, and/or after many people have commented “Got it” underneath, the scammer makes a big change. Using the Edit Post function, the bad guy deletes the photo of the hurt dog or missing kid, and inserts something altogether different. They also delete the original text and enter in new verbiage:

The benefit (to the scammers) here is that the post retains all of its comments and Shares. That lost puppy post has metamorphosed into a money-lure scam, that has been shared to many other groups and still has many positive comments underneath it. It can really look convincing!

But please know that all of these things are scams. If you interact with the posting account, they will strive to steal money from you. Please don’t play their game. Report them and their posts to Facebook and the group admin or moderator.

How to Defend Against These Scams

One good thing is that you can check for the switcheroo-edit. Remember the 3-dots button in the corner of each post? Click that and select Edit History. That reveals any and all changes that have been made to the post. It becomes very obvious, if you know to use this tool.

That 3-dots button also holds your reporting functions. You can first report the post to Facebook, but don’t expect much of a response. Their bots usually get back to me to state that they saw nothing wrong with the post. What’s most important is that you report the post to the people in charge of the Facebook Group. Those mods and admins are usually good people who care about the group, and will yank the post once they get your report.

If you are in a group where the moderators do NOT fulfill their duties, leave the group. You will know when this is the case, because the group will appear to be overrun with scammy posts! Sure, you can report the group to Facebook, but they will not respond. Your best bet is to save yourself and not be a part of that chaos.

If you’ve accidentally Liked, Shared or Commented on a Facebook Edited-Post Scam, try to undo that action. You can always unLike a post and delete a comment or Share. Having trouble finding what you’ve been doing on Facebook? Use the Activity Log to locate your Likes, Comments and more. And if you see that a friend has interacted with a scammy post, reach out to them to let them know. Encourage them to undo their actions, so that they’re not contributing to the spread or success of the scam.

Last thing: When someone tells you to what to share or type on Facebook, be suspicious. Share and comment what you want to, not when a stranger pushes you to.

I imagine most of you have encountered Facebook Winner Scams by now. These posts usually show an eye-catching puzzle, and suggest that if you have the answer, you can comment or PM the poster for some free money. Again, this is a scam.

Using a stolen Facebook account, the scammer is looking for trusting or naive people to contact them. They’ll ask for your CashApp or Zelle account, as if they are going to send you some cash. That’s the ruse. If you cooperate with them, they’re ready to confuse the situation and trick you into exposing your funds.

Do not fall for this and do not reveal your CashApp or other payment account information to these people! Report Facebook Winner Scams to Facebook and the Facebook Group Admin.

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After reading one of these sus posts, I had to check things out a little further. Using a sock puppet account, I contacted this scammer:

They clicked my fake CashApp link, which immediately showed me that they were in Lagos, Nigeria. Then I asked them about their location. They responded with a bad word in Yoruba and then blocked me.

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An Even Sneakier Variant

Sometimes the scammer alters the post to make this scheme even harder to spot. How this scam works is:

1. The scammer posts the silly puzzle, telling everyone to search for the hidden item in the picture, and they ask everyone to comment “Got it!” when they find something.
2. They wait for the comments of “Got it!” to pile up under the post.
3. They edit the original post, to say something different and show a new photo. The edited info says how you can visit a website for free money or financial aid.

This scam-variant is especially tricky, as the altered post retains the comments from earlier. It shows a lot of replies — from real people, possibly people you know — commenting “Got it!” to this new fake offer for cash. To a trusting first-time viewer, it may appear that all of their friends are truly getting free money.

If you see this, don’t believe it, and definitely report the post. And you might reach out to anyone you recognize in the comments. You can let them know that they might want to delete their comments and report the post, too.

I have previously blogged about all of the duct cleaning scams on Facebook. And while I’ve gone on at length about that particular scam, it seems that duct cleaning scams are just the tip of the iceberg. There are a myriad of service scams on Facebook. Here’s what I’ve been studying and want you to know about:

Various Types of Service Scams

The service scams on Facebook come in different flavors. You might encounter:

• Duct Cleaning service
• Car Detailing at your home or office
• Carpet Cleaning packages
• Internet Service!

How These Scams Play Out

These scams are carried out differently from other tech operations. Services scams on Facebook can actually result in service! Whether you ask for your ducts or your cars to be cleaned, the scammer will schedule with you (over Facebook Messenger), and someone will come to your address.

But the problems occur after the person arrives. Someone who has gone through with the contracted service might notice:

• The service was not performed well, or the worker made mistakes and damaged things.
• The work provided was carried out without proper licensing or insurance.
• The bill presented was significantly more than the estimate or proposal.
• Service was paid for, and problems with it were discovered later. Requests for follow-up were ignored, and the scammer later blocked the victim on Messenger.
• Extra charges were made to the credit card without warning.

Protip: When hiring anyone for services, know the name of company you’re dealing with. When they arrive, that company name should be evident, either on their vehicle or on business cards/printed materials or their uniforms. If you’ve hired a company, but the worker at your door can’t name that company, something fishy is going on.

Why I Call This a Scam

Sometimes people actually get acceptable service from one of these Facebook posts. This being the case, you might argue: Is this really a scam? Or is it just luck of the draw, whether you get a good service provider or a bad one? I say it is a scam, and here’s my take on it:

The Facebook posts for duct cleaning or car detailing are deceptive. No company name is offered. The posting account is designed to show an American-looking name and a good-looking North American person or couple. They claim to be new in your town and just starting up a business. But it is all a charade. Everything is arranged using sock puppet accounts.

I’ve chatted with several of these service-scammers, to learn more about their schemes. I’ve sent some IP logging links to them, and for those that click, it typically shows me that they are in Pakistan. If I point this out to them, they block me instantly.

Ultimately, all of this deception puts you the consumer at risk. When you hire one of these service-scammers, you are paying money to some untraceable agent halfway around the world. S/he refers the job to someone in America, who then appears at your door to perform the task. And because the worker is not connected to a local or licensed employer, any of the aforementioned problems could occur. And should you call the police, the worker and the Facebook scammer are ready to vanish. All consequences will be evaded.

How to Recognize and Avoid These Scams

These scam Facebook offers can closely resemble legitimate service posts. It can be tricky to discern the crooks from the honest people trying to make a living. Here are some things to look out for:

• Ask for the company name, phone number and website. Legitimate service providers will offer this as soon as you ask, if not sooner. Scammers will be cagey and dodge your question, or just give you an out-of-area number.
• Nowadays, scammers use great English! But there are still “tells”. If they type “kindly” in a sentence, or if the language feels a bit off, ask if you can call their office to schedule, or simply move on.
• Select and copy (Ctrl+C) the first sentence or two from their post. Then, click into the search field that Facebook offers. Paste (Ctrl+V) the verbiage from the post and see what turns up in search results. Many scam posts are duplicated all over the country, and this tactic quickly exposes many FB scams.
• Look at the Facebook account that posted the offer. If the profile is Locked, then they are not from the USA, as that option is unavailable in America. If the account has many friends from other parts of the world, then that account may not be from a local. And scammers often click Like their own photos, so that should be another tip-off.
• Find your needed services through personal referrals. Your friends and neighbors are unlikely to steer you towards one of these questionable outfits.

Other Dos & Don’ts

If you recognize a Facebook post as a scam, report it! Click the 3-dots next to the post and use the Report options to report it, first to Facebook and then also to the admin of the FB group. Just, don’t get your hopes up about Facebook’s response.

When paying for any kind of service, a credit card is best and protects you the most. Debit card transactions often cannot be reversed, and Cash App/Venmo/Paypal may not be able to help much after you’ve paid someone.

As you use social media, please pause before clicking on a celebrity death news item. I’m seeing a resurgence of celebrity death hoaxes on Facebook and other platforms right now, and they all lead to trouble.

I don’t blame people for clicking on these. Some of them look very believable. But anyone can post anything on Facebook, and Meta is very bad at policing itself and removing bad content. It’s up to us to think twice and avoid or report hazardous posts.

Celebrity death hoaxes are nothing new. The recent batch seems bent on tricking users into installing adware and malware on their computers. Here are some shots of the deceptive screens that appear for anyone unlucky enough to click these things:

Anyone falling victims to these sorts of downloads may soon suffer from lots of pop-ups, sales offers and web redirects, or worse. If you’ve caught some computer-crud from these hoaxes, give me a call and we can clean up your system fairly quickly.

And if you see any news on social media about a celebrity death, resist the urge to click. Instead, open a new tab and go to a trusted news website, and search for the celebrity’s name there. That should be a safer way to determine the truth of the matter.