The most popular scams on Facebook

 

This app needs permission to install… (rogue apps)

If you ever click a link and are taken to a webpage where an app is asking permission to install on your account, you need to stop and think.

Did the link I clicked seem a little suspicious? Do I trust the developer of this app?

Rogue Facebook apps can play havoc with your account. If allowed, they can access your personal information, they can post links or chat messages from your account, and can even lure you to external webpage outside of Facebook where they can try and install malware on your device.

Only install apps from sources that you trust. Whether it’s a survey, friend quiz, breaking news story or whatever is on offer. If in doubt, don’t install the app.

You’ve won the lottery

Whether it’s an email or a chat message, if you ever receive a message on Facebook claiming you won a lottery you didn’t enter, it’s a scam. It’s actually a variant of advance free fraud scams, whereas the victim is promised a large payout, but soon discovers that in order to get that payout, they have to pay smaller costs and fees.

Of course the scammer claims the large payout – in this case a lottery win – will more than cover those smaller payouts. However once you pay, the scammer disappears, and the victim soon realises the big payout never existed.

More on these Facebook lottery scams here.

Romance scams

Romance scams may be prevalent on email and on dating sites, but they’re also prolific on social media too. It may start with a friend request out of the blue, or the victim may be courted through a mutual Facebook group.

Romance scams can be particularly devastating to the victim. The scammer pretends to be forming a relationship with the victim, and may even assert that they’re in love. As the relationship develops, the scammer will find a number of excuses to avoid making “in real life” contact with the victim, and at some point, the scammer will request the victim send them money, for various innocuous seeming reasons.

Victims of these scams can potentially lose tens of thousands of dollars to scammers, simply because they thought they could trust them. More information on these scams can be read here.