Easy access to smart phones, tablets and laptops allow us to communicate with friends or family pretty much anywhere and anytime. Social media sites including Facebook and Twitter have made networking with friends and family even easier, in fact according to executives at Facebook, their site is used by individuals worldwide 175 million times a day. While the popularity and easy access of these sites are most often used with only the best of intentions, the sites also attract a darker more foreboding element from cyber criminals waiting in the shadows with intent to infect computers with viruses and essentially hold them for ransom and steal the victims hard-earned cash.
Advanced Private Investigator and Security of Boca Raton FL Present Top Five Social Media Scams in the Country & How They Can Potentially Affect Your Financial Livelihood
Chain Letters: Most of us have seen these at some point and while we have probably been advised to immediately delete the chain, many tenderhearted and well-meaning individuals have had a tendency to pass them on to everyone they know allowing spammers access to all of their friends and family. Don’t be fooled by the chain-letter promising something that is too good to be true. Hit the delete button.
Fake Facebook Friend Requests Asking for Money: Social media sites are designed to help us stay in touch with family and existing friends along with making new friends. But how well do you really know your new friend? Don’t be lured in by profiles. You hear about it on the news every day, someone’s newly befriended social media contact desperately needs money and you just sent it. It’s surprising how many compassionate people fall for this trick. Keep in mind these cyber criminals do their homework and will scour your social media pages for little insights into your personality to find your weaknesses. Even if the request comes from a friend that you have known for years, check it out before sending money. It is possible that the request is coming from your friends malware-infected computer that has just forwarded an email to everyone in their contacts list to see if anyone would take the bait and cough up a little cash.
Hidden Charges: So many fun things on your computer come at a price, for example the quiz that asks for some of your personal information including your cell number. A few minutes of fun can turn to agony when you receive your next phone bill with a charge for $8.99 that you didn’t realize you had subscribed to every month. How did this happen? Beware the free service that is part of a bait-and-switch game. These games are known to lure people in, especially on social media sites and the high traffic volume associate with these sites.
Types of Phishing: Someone posts pictures of you from a party or other event with a link to where you can find the pictures. Curious, you click on the enclosed link only to be taken to your social media account login page. Puzzled, you access your account, and you have just unwittingly given a cyber criminal access to your password along with control of your account. How does something like this happen? The link that took you to the page of your social media site was a fake that was intended to look like your page. To prevent this from happening to you, make sure that you have internet security that includes anti-phishing defenses.
Shortened Uniform Resource Locators (URL’s): Think twice about clicking on a shortened URL. These are especially popular on social media sites including Twitter but since the web address is shortened you never know exactly where you will end up and clicking on one site could direct you to another site that could potentially load malware or other viruses onto your computer.
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Websites including social media sites that attract a large numbers of members and visitors have the potential to attract criminals hoping to create an opportunity for easy money. A good rule of thumb is to ensure that you have security precautions in place ahead of time including antivirus and anti-spyware protection to keep both you and your wallet safe. If you have been the victim of social media fraud or need a private investigator for any other reason, contact Advanced Private Investigator and Security of Miami FL.
