Fraudsters are operating in the wide open spaces of social media platforms like they never have before, according to new data from the FTC's Consumer Sentinel Network.
According to recent reports, one out of every four individuals who reported financial losses at the hands of a fraudster in the last two years said that their ordeal began through social media channels.
And the amount of money these folks lost on social media was an astounding $2.7 billion – more than website scams, app scams, phone calls, emails, or texts. But the real amount is probably many times more since the majority of fraud cases go unreported.
Social media affords scammers several opportunities. Now with generative AI, they can knock out a fraudulent identity in a heartbeat or compromise legitimate-looking profiles to impersonate individuals and deceive their contacts.
Moreover, scammers can tailor their deceptive tactics based on the information users share on social media – all that stuff we allow on social media that we should keep to ourselves like our age, interests, or previous purchases.
Won’cha be my friend?
The scheme that’s biting a lot of social media users is phony friend requests. Once you let them in your life, they’ll warm up to you with some sort of B.S. that they cobbled together from your profile (“Oh, I loved that Springsteen show, too!”).
Next, they’ll start coming after you with “good deals,” investment opportunities -- the largest money-making scam -- tag you in a comment, and might even see if you’re interested in a little romance -- the second largest money-maker. But, then... they ask for money.
To avoid these and other scams on social media, the FTC’s Consumer Education Specialist, Kira Krown, suggests that the first thing you do is adjust your privacy settings to limit who can see your information and what you post.
Wanna see how bad it can be if you don’t? Watch this video from an IT expert to see what happens when someone blindly accepts 300 open, random friend requests on Facebook.
Facebook Marketplace is a double-edged sword, too
Lots of people love Facebook Marketplace. Better than a garage sale, some say. But, scammers love the Marketplace, too – and in growing numbers. The biggest “gotcha?” Fake merchandise.
“Fake merchandise scams are notorious on Facebook Marketplace, as well as Etsy, Offerup, Craigslist, and Instagram,” Patrick Kopins, COO of OvalEdge, a data governance consultancy, told ConsumerAffairs.
“A scammer will put up a seemingly high-end, premium brand like Gucci, Prada, Burberry, etc., and then sell it to an unsuspecting user. The user then finds out later that although it looked convincing, the product was a knock-off.”
Knock-offs are pretty standard fare on resale sites, but they’re loaded with red flags. We pinged Hari Ravichandra, CEO and Founder at Aura and Sift Trust and Safety Architect Vice President Kevin Lee, to see what things consumers should look for on Facebook Marketplace to determine if something is a scam or not. He offered these:
Sellers that offer suspiciously low prices for what seems like high-ticket items.
A seller that refuses to meet in person.
Buyers or sellers that are trying to take the conversation outside of Facebook Messenger.
Buyers who send you prepaid shipping labels.
A buyer that overpays for a product unprompted
Buyers or sellers that ask for your phone number for any reason.
Buyers or sellers who don’t have a profile photo.
If the seller wants a buyer to pay with a gift card.
The tried and true thing that’ll keep you safe though is this: “Be wary of anything that looks too good to be true, it’s the clearest sign of a scam,” Kopins said in closing.
Photo Credit: Consumer Affairs News Department Images
Posted: 2023-10-10 10:46:01
