How To Stay Safe On Facebook While Scams Abound – Forbes Advisor

Facebook is often billed as a platform to keep in touch with friends. But to do so, users have to dodge scammers lurking there.

A new survey of 1,005 adult Facebook users who said they had experienced scams in the US found that platform users are being targeted in a variety of ways.

15% of respondents said they were asked to pay a fee to apply for a job, while 27% said someone asked them to send them money or gift cards to receive a reward. Both are prolific scams on Facebook and other platforms.

Facebook scams range from phishing links to fake ads

Conducted by OnePoll for Forbes Advisor, the poll found that respondents frequently encountered suspicious behavior on Facebook, including receiving a friend request from someone they were already friends with or from someone they didn’t know. Receiving a message asking them to click a link was also a common experience.

These scams and phishing attempts (the deceptive practice of an apparently well-known company or individual sending a message to a consumer asking them to provide sensitive information, such as a photo of their social security card) can have serious consequences for consumers.

Thirteen percent of respondents said someone used their stolen identification information (such as name, address, or social security number) to impersonate them; Twelve percent said someone had accessed their financial accounts.

Meta, Facebook’s parent company, did not respond to a request from Forbes Advisor about the survey data.

The survey makes it clear that it is becoming increasingly difficult for users to protect themselves from such a wide range of scams on Facebook.

Social media has become a gold mine for scammers. In 2021, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) found that more than 95,000 people reported losses of approximately $770 million from social media fraud.

Investing and love scams have been the most profitable forms of scams for scammers on social platforms. Scammers will set up fake relationships to ask for money or promise unrealistic returns on crypto products.

Read more: How to protect yourself from scammers sneaking into your DMs

Shopping fraud is also widespread. One such scam is ads for products that appear in your news feed that look legitimate and may trick you into making a purchase; However, the product may never appear. And if it does, it’s completely different than advertised and usually of lower quality. The victim of the scam may then have difficulty returning the product and may not get their money back.

But even being a victim of a scam on Facebook is not enough to stop users from coming back to the platform. Six out of ten respondents reported using Facebook multiple times a day, although the majority of survey respondents feared future identity theft.

The cognitive dissonance of respondents who frequently encounter scams but don’t close their Facebook account is evidence that breaches of trust don’t break the app’s entrenchment in everyday life.

The #DeleteFacebook movement began in response to the revelation of the Cambridge Analytica data scandal. In 2018, the analytics company was found to have obtained sensitive personality information from up to 87 million users on Facebook without their consent. The FTC eventually fined Facebook $5 billion for violating consumer protection laws — one of the largest penalties ever imposed by the US government.

Despite the Cambridge Analytica scandal, Facebook still has nearly 3 billion monthly active users (although there are signs the number of users is declining).

An article by Mashable noted that while people didn’t like the platform, they kept their Facebook accounts for a variety of reasons, including the need to log into other platforms, needing them for work or school purposes, and to keep up with their community to keep .

“For many users, it’s not that they don’t want to delete their Facebook — it’s that Facebook is so intertwined with the way they live online that they can’t really break free from it,” writes Christianna Silva, reporter at Mashable. “Leaving Facebook would mean changing the way they interact with the internet.”

How consumers can protect themselves from scams on Facebook

As scams continue to rise on social media, including on Facebook, your own safety is a top priority. Here are steps you can take to protect your social media presence.

1. Use two-factor authentication to keep your Facebook account secure

Many online platforms use two-factor authentication to protect accounts, including Facebook. Two-factor authentication is a security feature that requires additional credentials after entering your password.

On Facebook, these additional credentials can be tapping a security key on another device, using login codes from a third-party authenticator app, or entering a code sent to you via text message. You must enable this feature – it is not automatic for users.

Facebook advises that once you enable two-factor authentication, you’ll get 10 recovery login codes to use when you don’t have access to your phone. Recovery codes can be safely stored in a password manager.

2. Don’t click suspicious links in messages

According to Facebook, suspicious links are part of sophisticated phishing techniques that scammers use to gain access to someone’s Facebook account or trick people into sharing sensitive personal information.

A common phishing scheme is for someone to send a video link through Facebook Messenger and ask if it’s you in the video. The link then takes you to a fake Facebook login page that asks for your credentials – once you enter them, the scammer can access your account.

Phishing links are often short-coded, which means they don’t specify the address they link to. Scammers often use this tactic to trick people into clicking on them. If you’re unsure whether a link sent to you is legitimate, you can submit it to VirusTotal, a free website that analyzes links to determine where they lead and whether or not they might contain malware.

Scammers aim to take over accounts so they can send phishing links or spam to your network to steal more personal information or even trick people into sending you money.

3. Check out a company before you buy their products

If you see an ad for a product you want to buy, check out the seller first before making the purchase. The FTC recommends searching online for the company name and “scam” or “complaint” to see if they have a history of victimizing consumers.

The FTC also warns consumers against buying anything online from sellers who only accept payment with gift cards, money transfers, or cryptocurrency, as these payments are almost impossible to reverse.

4. Freeze your credit reports

While freezing your balance won’t stop Facebook scammers, it can protect against the potential consequences of identity theft. However, 67 percent of respondents say they haven’t frozen their credit reports despite encountering scams on Facebook.

Freezing your credit report is a process that prevents new accounts from being opened in your name. If you mistakenly provided a criminal with sensitive personal information while being scammed on Facebook, a freeze can prevent them from opening a credit card or loan in your name.

For a freeze to be most effective, you must contact all three major credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) individually. You can do this online, by phone or by email. All three bureaus freeze your funds for free and it will not affect your credit score. Keep in mind that if you plan to apply for a new line of credit in the near future, you’ll need to contact the three bureaus individually to have them unblock you.

Read more: How to freeze your balance