Social media websites, like Facebook, started out innocently enough; they were used to keep in touch with friends and family, and as a platform where you can share photos and, well, your every small thought.
However, like many other things in life, leave it up to people to ruin what started out as a good thing. Nowadays, social media sites have become a hotbed for scams and frauds that perform various cybercrimes on innocent people. To avoid falling victim to social media scams, here are the 4 most common social media cons that you should be aware of:
Hidden URLs
Shortened URLs are a way for online scammers to attract visitors, and in many cases - install malware on the computers of those who clicked on them. Hidden URLs can often be found on Twitter and other social media websites, and they are created with " Uniform Resource Locator" and similar websites. You should avoid clicking on shortened links as they can cause quite a bit of trouble, and lead to the installment of viruses and other malware on your PC.
Chain Letters
Chain letters are nothing new; they have been around since the dawn of the email, and some even send them via texts. The notorious chain letters have also found their way to social media, and they are sent to countless people every day. The social media chain mail will require you to take action, like retweet so that X amount of money will go to charity. If you see these types of posts, ignore them; they are a way for people to prank others, get leads on potential subscribers, or phish for information they can later use for no good.
Cash Grabs
There are many kind-hearted people out there who fall victim to online cash grabs; these online scams are performed via email or social media websites, where you meet people and befriend them quickly. When meeting new people on social media websites, you can expand your circle of friends, but do you know if the people you speak with have friendly intentions? You can answer that question by performing a background check on websites like GoLookUp that can provide you with information about people based on their names or other details. Online cash grabbers will do their best to earn your trust, and then they will ask you for money or other things. Do not be a bleeding heart in these cases - it is a fraud and you might end up losing money or having your identity stolen.
Information Phishing Scams
Another type of social media scam is the information phishing scam where cons try to get their hands on your personal information and passwords. Through these scams, you will receive a very luring message, like "your ex posted embracing photos of you! See 'em right here!". You will, of course, want to check the link to see if the message is true, and you will be led to an enclosed link that will take you to a social media login page where you will be required to enter your username and password.
Oops, you have fallen to cybercrime and someone has your personal information. Needless to say, you should not click links that you are unfamiliar with or re-enter your personal information to pages you were redirected to. Aside from not clicking on links, you should also install anti-phishing software to avoid getting your information stolen.
With the evolution of social media, online scammers have also evolved to using new tricks to commit fraud. To avoid being a part of the statistic, you should first be aware of the types of social media scams that are most common and tread lightly in unfamiliar sites.
