Facebook, Friend or Foe?

Over 1 billion people are active on Facebook. It increases connection and allows people to communicate throughout the world. Just like any other means of communicating fraudsters have found a way to take advantage of a good thing. Scams happen on Facebook when people create fake accounts or hack into existing Facebook accounts or pages you’ve liked. The scammers use these fake accounts or compromised accounts to trick you into giving them money or personal information. If you’ve received a message that you believe is a scam you should avoid responding and report it to Facebook. Here are some common red flags to watch out for:

• People asking you for money who you don’t know in person.
• People asking you for advance fees to receive a loan, prize or other winnings.
• People asking you to move your conversation off Facebook (such as a separate email)
• People claiming to be a friend or relative in an emergency
• Messages or posts with poor spelling and grammatical mistakes
• Pages representing large companies, organizations or public figures that are not verified
• People or accounts directing you to a page to claim a prize
• People asking to use your bank account or debit card to make a deposit because they “don’t have access to their account”

Increase your security and setting your page to private can help reduce your exposure to these fake/compromised accounts.

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