Socially Unacceptable Media

Social media – you either love or hate it, but one thing is true: if you use it, you have a target on your back. While your high school bully isn’t looking to hunt you down (probably), hackers ARE. I’ve said time and again that scammers are industrious and opportunistic. They’re looking for quick and easy ways to get what they want. Money? Data? It’s all up for grabs online.

While most people use social media to connect with friends and relatives, network, or for career opportunities, scammers see it as shooting fish in a barrel. One new method that they are using to con victims is by using Facebook’s messaging platform. Let’s go through the scam step-by-step.

1.       The target receives a message from the Facebook/Meta security team.

2.       The message states that the community rules have been violated, so their page has been deactivated.

3.       The victim is instructed to click a link within the message to reactivate their account or update information.

Of course, the scammer is just looking for information the victim readily provides to maintain their account. So, how can you prevent yourself from becoming a victim?

“Think before you click.”

Before you take any action, consider the source. Is the message really coming from the security team at Facebook? A simple Google inquiry shows that Googling the name in the link (NOT CLICKING ON IT) brings up this security warning.

Scammers want you to act fast. They’re hoping you are panicked enough not to pay attention to the red flags that are typically there.

For instance, would Facebook use the language that appears in the message? Not likely.

What about the user name…did you notice the period at the end? That just doesn’t seem right.

Also, and most obviously…is your page deactivated? If not, you can be assured that the message is a fake.

These types of scams run rampant across social media. Be especially wary of interactions on Facebook Marketplace or other social groups designed to sell or trade items.

Now that you know what to look for, I hope you are better equipped to fight fraud on social media.

Do you have questions about this post? I want to hear from you. Leave a comment below or email me.

Krista Kyte is a personal finance blogger and personal banker with over 20 years of experience in the financial industry. Krista is passionate about helping our members understand their financial situations.