Facebook scammers are at it again. They impersonated JetBlue's Facebook page, pretending to offer a free vacation to a user who "liked" and shared the post. The fake account collected 1,000 likes in a single day, demonstrating that Facebook scams are as lucrative as ever.
How the Scam Worked:
A post from "JetBlue" appears in your Facebook newsfeed. The airline is offering the chance to win a free vacation for four. To enter, all you need to do is "like" and share the message.
The Facebook page looks real. It uses JetBlue's logo, colors and cover image. And the contest could be real too; businesses often run giveaways to bolster their Facebook likes.
However, there are two clues that this is a fake: the awkward grammar ("an all paid vacation" instead of "an all expenses paid vacation") and the fact that JetBlue's real page has 800K likes.
What's the Point of Facebook Scams?
Savvy spammers set up Facebook pages that urge users to "like," share or comment on the posts. Scams run the gamut heart tugging images of sick children with captions that falsely promise "a dollar donated for each 'like,'" to fake celebrity accounts to fraudulent contests. The more times the images are shared or "liked," the more it boosts the spam page's "edge rank," the score a Facebook page is given to dictate how it interacts with other Facebook profiles. After the page accumulates enough fans and a high enough "edge rank," the spammers sell it. Of course, scammers can use fake Facebook pages for more "traditional" scams like phishing for personal and/or banking information. If you want to be absolutely sure, go to the company's website and click on their Facebook link.
How can you avoid these scams? Do a quick search on Facebook before you "like" a business or other organization. You can make sure you have the right account by picking the one with substantially more "likes." For example, the real JetBlue page has 800,000 "likes."
I Spotted a Fake Facebook Page. What Should I Do?
Don't share, like or comment on the posts. That just perpetuates Facebook spam.
Be sure to report fake profiles to Facebook.
Friday, August 23, 2013
Sunday, August 18, 2013
How Scammers Fool Ebay Sellers into Giving Away Goods
Thinking about selling electronics or other valuables on eBay? Be sure to watch out for this scam. Using a few tricks, scammers fool sellers into shipping goods without receiving payment.
How the Scam Works:
You list an item on eBay. For this example, let's say it's a laptop. Someone purchases it, and, in addition to the official notification email you get from eBay, you also receive a message from the buyer.
In this email, the buyer claims he has an emergency and needs the laptop immediately. He may say it's his son or daughter's birthday gift. In other cases, the buyer claims to be in the military, and he's shipping out in a few days. The buyer may also ask you to send the item to an unconfirmed address, often in another country. You reply and agree to send the item that day... as soon as you have confirmation of payment.
The next email you receive appears to be from PayPal. It looks like a message confirming the buyer's payment. But before you ship the laptop, you log into your PayPal account and check the transfer history. The buyer never sent the money, and the "PayPal" email was a fraud!
How to Spot an eBay Buyer Scam:
You list an item on eBay. For this example, let's say it's a laptop. Someone purchases it, and, in addition to the official notification email you get from eBay, you also receive a message from the buyer.
In this email, the buyer claims he has an emergency and needs the laptop immediately. He may say it's his son or daughter's birthday gift. In other cases, the buyer claims to be in the military, and he's shipping out in a few days. The buyer may also ask you to send the item to an unconfirmed address, often in another country. You reply and agree to send the item that day... as soon as you have confirmation of payment.
The next email you receive appears to be from PayPal. It looks like a message confirming the buyer's payment. But before you ship the laptop, you log into your PayPal account and check the transfer history. The buyer never sent the money, and the "PayPal" email was a fraud!
How to Spot an eBay Buyer Scam:
- Check the buyer's profile. It's important that a buyer's profile shows positive feedback, a history of eBay use and their location. However, this isn't a guarantee that the buyer is legitimate. Scammers often hack into eBay accounts and use them to bid. Then, they request that the item be shipped to another address.
- Make sure the email is really from PayPal. Read the email carefully, and check that the "sender" address is really from an "@paypal.com" domain. Also, hover over URLs in the message to make sure they link to the real PayPal website
- Watch out for bad grammar and misspellings. Official company emails, such as notifications from PayPal or eBay, aren't filled with typos and awkward English. Poor grammar is a sure sign the email is a fraud.
- Log into PayPal directly. Before you ship an item, always confirm payment by logging into PayPal and checking your account. Go to the URL directly. Don't use a link from the buyer's email.
- Contact PayPal: Think an email is a fraud? Forward it to spoof@paypal.com.
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