Check
your privacy settings. Scammers are tapping into the personal data
available through Facebook, Google+ and LinkedIn to pose as your friends
in fraudulent emails. Watch out for these personalized scam messages
and take steps to prevent them.
How the Scam Works:
You
receive an email that appears to be sent by a friend or family member.
The message addresses you by name, but the content is strange. Usually,
it's just a link to a website. If you click on it, you could end up
downloading malware to your computer.
What's going on here? The scammers are exploiting the fact that you're more likely to click on a link if it was sent by a friend.
Scammers find
your information through Facebook or other social media accounts. Some
set up fake accounts and send out friend requests. When you accept the
request, they can view your friends and personal and contact
information. Other scammers rely on social media users not locking down their privacy settings, so basic information, such as your name, email address and friends' names, is publicly available.
How to Protect Your Facebook Account from Spammers?
- Review your security settings. Check out Facebook's information on setting your privacy settings to be sure you aren't sharing personal information with strangers. Look here for information on what can be found publicly in search engines.
- Don't accept Facebook friend requests from unknown people.
- Report scam profiles and other suspicious activity to Facebook by following these instructions.
- Consider enabling login notifications, so you will know when someone uses a new device to access your account.
- When
accessing Facebook from public wi-fi in places like hotels and
airports, text "otp" to 32665 to receive a one-time password to your
account.
What to do if You Receive a Suspicious Email:
- Don't
click on strange links, even if they're from friends. Notify the person
who sent you the email if you see something suspicious.
- Check the "header" field. Even though a friend's name is in the "from" field, spam email won't be from their email address.
- If you click the link, be sure to run a virus scan on your computer.
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