Facebook – The New Scammer Platform?
- rewrittenIn this article
Introduction
Silly Facebook Status Updates
Facebook Group Hoaxes
Hacking a Facebook Account
~Dangerous Applications and Notifications
~Facebook Phishing Links
~Facebook Phishing E-Mails
Other Facebook Scams
~Friend in Crisis
~SMS Subscription Scams
~Romance Scams
Introduction
Online techie troublemakers began using popular social networking site ever since it began to rise in popularity. It was inevitable really. Nearly every popular social site, including MySpace, Twitter, Yahoo and MSN have all had to battle online hoaxes and scams, and it came as no surprise to anybody when hoaxes and scams began to spread with Facebook as their focal point.It was predictable.
And it was also predictable that the plethora of tactics used to scam people are as diverse as they are dangerous.
It is easy to assume that because many of the Facebook rumours floating about are harmless - only serving as a time wasting exercise, that there is no sinister side to the social networking site. However, in reality, serious scams take place everyday on the site. We discuss both the harmless hoaxes and the serious fraud that takes place on Facebook.
Harmless Facebook hoaxes usually take on either one of two forms - status update rumours and Facebook groups.
Silly Facebook Status Updates
There probably isn't a Facebook member who hasn't seen one of these silly Facebook status update rumours. These are the rumours that aim to startle Facebook users with some revelation and urge members to copy and paste it to their own status and get their friends to do the same. Some of the most prolific rumours that circulate are -- Hacker Friend Requests - These rumours state that Facebook members should avoid adding certain people to their accounts as they are either "hackers" or a "virus" that will put their computer in jeopardy. Of course the act of adding a friend is safe, though there are other factors Facebook members should be aware of. For more information on this, click for more information on Hacker Friend Requests
- Facebook Threats and Viruses - These rumours will typically offer half truths and vague information about various threats affecting Facebook. They vary from malicious links to dangerous applications, but rarely offer enough information to be truly useful. An example of this is Youtube Links scare in 2009 and 2010.
- Facebook Warnings - very rarely based on truth, these purported warnings claim to avoid certain groups or people or applications for made up reasons. They are usually designed to provoke emotional responses from their readers so will usually be of a controversial nature. Paedophilia is a common subject as you can see here.
- Pointless Causes - These rumours simply ask Facebook members to do some menial task like post something on their status update, and often go further and claim that some charity or organisation is tracking and sponsoring these updates. A recent example being the Bra Colour Update hoax.
There are many other types of hoax, but characteristic features include the instructions to copy and paste to your own status and urge your friends to do the same. The best advice is to perform due diligence when coming across these updates. The majority are just hoaxes.
Facebook Group Hoaxes
Hoax Facebook groups can be either harmless or dangerous. Either way their goal is try and compel as many Facebook members to join as possible. A common way of accomplishing this is to entice Facebook members to invite all of their friends as well, before they can receive or achieve whatever these Facebook groups offer. We do have our own section about Facebook group hoaxes here. This link also covers groups that purport to offer bonuses or features for popular Facebook applications like Farmville and Mafia Wars. You can also read our article on FarmVille Group hoaxes here.Hacking a Facebook Account
Harmless Facebook hoaxes isn't the only problem the social networking site has, however. Sinister scammers work on Facebook as it can be used as a tool for many other crimes like Identity fraud and phishing attacks. These usually happen when a Facebook account is compromised. First, we'll talk about how scammers compromise a Facebook account.~Dangerous Applications and Notifications
Dangerous Facebook applications can cause many different problems for their victim. Once installed, they can feign advertisement from the victim which usually means it will - once installed - send out links to all the victims friends. These links can then go on to prompt the victims friends list to install the same application (which will allow it to propagate fast) and/or provide links to external sites, which can do a whole range of damage from malware installations, phishing attacks, to scam retailers or wholesalers, which in turn can lead to other problems including Identity theft.It is important to only install applications that you trust. If you feel you have been tricked into installing a Facebook application, remove it and then change your password and if you notice links and/or messages have been sent from your account, warn your friends list. Facebook accounts that have installed dangerous applications that lead to this sort of spamming are considered compromised. Be aware that these applications can produce misleading notifications on the notifications bar of their friends accounts.
~Facebook Phishing Links
As we mentioned above, this can be a result of installing dangerous applications. Always think carefully before clicking on links that have either been posted on your wall, a friends wall, sent to you through Facebook chat or sent through Facebook. Malicious applications or scammers themselves have been known to use all of those methods to get Facebook friends of compromised accounts to click on external links that in turn can compromise the account of that member, or again lead to other serious scams that lead to Identity theft.~Facebook Phishing E-Mail
Always be wary of email you receive from Facebook, because it may not be from Facebook. Scammers have been known to send fraudulent emails purporting to be from Facebook requesting personal information like passwords. NEVER give out your password Facebook will never request it, not will they change or reset it like this email claimed. Emails like this can install malware onto the victims computer or lead them to sites that look like Facebook but will steal your details. For more information on this type of scam, called email phishing, click here. More obvious advice is to never hand out your Facebook password to people you do not know. The same applies to other social network sites like MySpace. Do not install attachments from emails claiming to be from social networking sites either.Other Facebook Scams
So finally lets talk about other scams that operate on Facebook. (and other social networking sites like MySpace)~Friend in Crisis
This happens as a result of compromised Facebook accounts, which we talked about above. If a scammer gains control of a Facebook account, then a popular scam is to message the friends of that account requesting emergency money. The scam varies depending on the scammer, but typically will involve the scammer pretending to be the owner of the hacked account requesting money because they are stranded in a city or foreign country. They will usually request the money be transferred using a money wire service such as Western Union or MoneyGram. These money transfer services are extensively abused by scammers, as you can read here. Never wire money to Facebook friends if you cannot personally verify that the situation is real. In the case of the Friend in Crisis scam, this would usually mean contacting the friend or family member in question over the phone to verify the situation.~SMS Subscription Scams
These scams usually occur because of group hoaxes, where Facebook members are forwarded to external sites that request you complete questionnaires or surveys to achieve or receive the purported bonuses or features the group is offering. You can read more about them in our article about Facebook Group Hoaxes or SMS Subscription Scams.~Romance scams
More serious crimes can be committed on Facebook, including romantic scams that can potentially be fatal. Romance scams involve the scammer soliciting other Facebook members. They can either pretend to be the victims friend and request money (like the friend in crisis scam above) or even request meetings with the victim, which can lead to much more serious crimes.So for now that wraps it up. Don't let the social and innocent nature of Facebook fool you. For the most part, Facebook is a safe environment but there is a sinister underbelly with very dangerous people using it. Facebook accounts are hacked daily and scammers create accounts and groups daily, so don't always take what you see on Facebook to be true, especially if something seems suspicious. If ever in doubt, ask. We're here to help.
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