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.
