Facebook removes several pages related to the Sandy Hook shootings over concerns that they were being used to spread conspiracy theories and fund social networking scammers.
Tragedies that attract national or global attention are commonly exploited by unscrupulous social network scammers looking to cash-in on the grief of others. It happens because these scammers know that such events inevitably lead to millions of social networking users searching for specific information, and this makes it easy for scammers to set traps to lure unwary victims.
And one of the ways in which the events at Sandy Hook in Newtown are being exploited is by setting up what is dubbed as “likewhore” Facebook Pages designed to garner likes in order to increase the marketing value of that Page.
Last year we discussed how scammers can set up Facebook Pages that are designed to accumulate as many fans as possible in order to increase the value of that Facebook Page. Once these Pages reach a certain number of fans they can be used to start making money. For example scammers could sell the Pages to marketing companies or to try and lure fans into affiliate marketing offers.
And it appears many Facebook Pages that appear to have been set up to commemorate victims of the Newtown victims have actually been created to garner Likes to make money for the Page creators.
And in some cases these pages have even been used to possibly illicit fake donations under the false assertion the money is going to help the families of the shooting.
And in another sick twist various Facebook pages that appear to commemorate victims – such as Victoria Soto – have been used as a vehicle by so called “truther” conspiracy theorists to spread their theories and to harass those involved with the shootings.
If you’re not familiar with the “truther” movement of conspiracy theories we undertook the undesirable task of going through the various claims last month. Many of these people took it upon themselves to harass many involved in the tragedy through phone calls and cyber bullying.
The news that Facebook have agreed to remove many of the offending Pages has been received well by the families of the Sandy Hook victims. Donna Soto, sister of Victoria said “”I am pleased that Facebook has agreed to do the right thing,” [source.] Facebook have publically refused to remove a variety of offensive Pages in the past, such as Pages aimed at mocking the Munich Air Disaster victims or Pages that implore fans to joke about crimes such as rape.
The advice for Facebook users is to be vigilant to what Facebook Pages and posts they choose to Like. When you Like a Page on Facebook the social networking site translates that action as you endorsing the Page and thus it may increase its visibility to other users. If you suspect a Page is acting suspiciously then do not Like or interact with it. If a Pages seems entirely focussed on increasing their fans or imploring users to share their content then this should be considered a red flag.
Many scammy Facebook pages exploit Sandy Hook likely remain, though Facebook have claimed that they have streamlined their reporting process to allow these Pages to be reported and removed easier and faster.
