Treasure Chest for Scammers: Social Media

It’s no secret that people love social media. Whether it’s Facebook which has over 2 billion active users as of October 2018, Instagram with it’s 1 billion users or LinkedIn with its 590 million users, each platform offers a unique place to interact with friends, family and sometimes strangers. Although these platforms allow us to connect with others, they can also pose a threat if we aren’t cautious. Social media permeates the lives of many people – we use it to stay in touch, make new friends, shop, and have fun. But reports show that social media is also increasingly where scammers go to con us. More than one in four people who reported losing money to fraud in 2021 said it started on social media with an ad, a post, or a message. In fact, the data suggests that social media was far more profitable to scammers in 2021 than any other method of reaching people.

For scammers, there’s a lot to like about social media. It’s a low-cost way to reach billions of people from anywhere in the world. It’s easy to manufacture a fake persona, or scammers can hack into an existing profile to get “friends” to con. There’s the ability to fine-tune their approach by studying the personal details people share on social media. In fact, scammers could easily use the tools available to advertisers on social media platforms to systematically target people with bogus ads based on personal details such as their age, interests, or past purchases.

More than 95,000 people reported about $770 million in losses to fraud initiated on social media platforms in 2021. Those losses account for about 25% of all reported losses to fraud in 2021. Reports are up for every age group, but people 18 to 39 were more than twice as likely as older adults to report losing money to these scams in 2021. 

Scams might be common, but the techniques that scammers use can vary. To help you identify common scams on social media and prevent them from occurring, here are a few examples of social media scams. 

Romance scams are one of the most profitable frauds on social media. Losses to romance scams have climbed to record highs in recent years. More than a third of people who said they lost money to an online romance scam in 2021 said it began on Facebook or Instagram. These scams often start with a seemingly innocent friend request from a stranger, followed by sweet talk, and then, inevitably, a request for money. People requesting you as a friend and asking for money seems like something that only happens on TV shows, however this is surprisingly common. 

Shopping scam is when you try to buy something you saw marketed on social media. In fact, 45% of reports of money lost to social media scams in 2021 were about online shopping. In nearly 70% of these reports, people said they placed an order, usually after seeing an ad, but never got the merchandise. Some reports even described ads that impersonated real online retailers that drove people to look alike websites. When people identified a specific social media platform in their reports of undelivered goods, nearly 9 out of 10 named Facebook or Instagram.

Lottery and Free Gift Card Scam : oftentimes there are posts on social media claiming to give out free gift cards to popular stores like Starbucks and McDonalds or announcing that you’ve won the lottery. When you click on them, you’re taken to a site that asks you to enter your information to claim your winnings. The information they ask for may vary. They could ask for your phone number to secretly charge you in data fees. A ”lottery” post may require your banking information in order to wire you money, which they use to end up stealing from you instead.

Remember that you can’t win a lottery you never entered.

Account Canceled Scam : Another phishing scheme that has become common on Facebook is a message or email that claims to be from Facebook warning that your account will be disabled unless you take action. The scammer requests that you either send your account information to them or 

login via a link they provide. The scammer can then steal sensitive information or scam more people through your account.

Catfishing scam : With an increase in social interaction online comes an increase in relationships that were built through social media. Scammers have taken this as an opportunity to con people who are looking for love. Catfishing is a type of online harassment in which someone creates a fake identity online for the purpose of starting a relationship. They then use this relationship and trust to scam people out of money. You may wonder why these tricks work on most people. Usually it’s desperation or greed or plain lack of awareness that makes them fall into scams.

So how do you prevent yourself from falling for these bogus scams on social media? 

Firstly, limit who can see your posts and information on social media. All platforms collect information about you from your activities on social media, but visit your privacy settings  to set some restrictions.

If you get a message from a friend about an opportunity or an urgent need for money, call them. Their account may have been hacked – especially if they ask you to pay by cryptocurrency, gift card, or wire transfer. That’s how scammers primarily ask you to pay.

Before you buy anything off of the internet , check out the company. Search online for its name plus “scam” or “complaint”.

Use strong and unique passwords.. If your password also uses any type of personal details (like a pet’s name or  your birthday) a fraudster might easily grab this from your social media posts.

Install an antivirus software : There are a number of free services which can help protect your laptop and any other personal devices from malware.

Take care on public Wi-Fi : Sometimes scammers can impersonate a genuine Wi-Fi network or hack into an existing one. If you’re getting connected on the go, avoid using apps with sensitive information, like mobile banking.

Be wary of giving sites your personal information, especially banking details.

There should never be  a need for you to release your account details.

Although after reading through so many scam stories on a daily basis it’s hard to trust anything you see online; social media is a great place to be, if used mindfully.  These are just a few things to keep in mind while browsing through the internet so that you have a pleasant time instead of unknowingly paying someone 10 thousand bucks to win a 50 grand lottery.

Savdhaan rahein, safe rahein.

About the author 

Mimisha Deka is a student at NMIMS Mumbai, pursuing B.Sc in Applied Psychology. Other than trying to live the “Loralai Gilmore” life, her other interests are dancing, singing and playing ukulele. 

Her life depends on her to-do lists, shopping and rewatching tbbt, gilmore girls and b99. If you ever want to have a deep conversation about life or discuss plots of murder documentaries, she’s your go-to girl. Kind hearted, spontaneous and optimistic are the words that perfectly describe her to a tee.