Common Social Media Scams and How to Spot Them
Social Media has grown tremendously over the past 5 years. Scams have become more creative and common throughout the years too. Facebook and Instagram have billions of users combined, which makes it a prime place for scammers to work. If not cautious, this can pose a threat to users of social media. While it is common to receive scams via the telephone, email, or in-person, social media scamming has various techniques you should be aware of for your protection. Evaluate the following scams to keep yourself safe:
Catfishing
Catfishing is one of the most common scams on social media. Catfishing occurs when a person creates an online persona and pretends to be someone else online. In this day and age, 1 in 5 relationships begins online. By the year 2040, it is estimated that over 70% of relationships will have started online. Scammers are taking the opportunity to catfish online users, create relationships with them, and ask them for money. The scammer will gain the trust of their victim and scam money out of them. One way to spot a person who is catfishing is if they will not meet you in person, it seems too good to be true, or there are inconsistencies in their social media or personal life.
2. “See who's Viewed Your Profile”
This is a common Facebook and Instagram scam known as clickjacking. Clickjacking occurs when you lure someone to click on a link by promising some sort of incentive. A common incentive would be promising a reward for completing a survey for money or seeing who has viewed your profile. When a user clicks on the link, a scammer will be the one earning money. Be very careful with this scam, because sometimes these links help a scammer gain access to personal information. If an unknown person sends you a message with a weird link, do not click on it.
3. Sweepstakes and Lottery
For sweepstakes or lottery scams, the user will receive a message on social media saying that they won a prize, which is typically money. To claim your earnings, the scammer will ask you to purchase a gift card to pay the taxes on those earnings. If you receive a message similar to this and you did not enter a contest, delete the message immediately and report the account.
4. Hidden Charges
This scam will most commonly look like a quiz. For example, the quiz may be titled “ Which Harry Potter character are you? Find out now!”. Before you can even take the quiz, “ you are prompted to fill in your personal information such as first and last name, email, and cell number. A few minutes after finishing the quiz, you will receive an email about a subscription service that you may have accidentally signed up for through the scam. Be sure not to take any social media quizzes from unknown users or accounts for your safety.
There are so many different types of internet scams. Be aware of the people you follow and message on your accounts. If a message feels too good to be true, trust your instinct and block the account. Stay safe and happy social media use!