Tips To Avoid Facebook Scams and Spam

Facebook is by design a prime target for spammers and online scammers. Being the largest social network in the world makes it the best place for cybercriminals to target as much people as possible. Facebook scams often come with viruses; some come with snooping agents that can attack your computer or online profiles. Getting rid of these malware, although not impossible can be a real headache. This does not mean to say that people should be giving up their online social life.  It simply means that while users enjoy liking, tagging and poking each other, caution should still be the order of the day. Here are a few easy enough tips to follow to avoid being scammed, spammed or hacked in your favorite social network.

• Do not be click happy – Cybercriminals know how to make your mouth water and trigger your clicker happy nature with hard to resist phrases and thumbnails. It is therefore very important to think before you act. Take a good look at the link posted on your wall and if it sounds too good to be true, like a free iPad or something that leapt from a tabloid, stay away from it or remove it from your wall.

• Know the lingo- be aware of the usual keywords used in spam messages. Something that goes, “click da’button baby” or “you have to see this” is most likely a spam that contains a link to a viral program. If you are really inching to see what’s up with the link, do your homework first and Google the said link and verify if it is connected to any new virus or hoax.

• Check the post frequency – Spam attacks affect a lot of people at the same time. More often than not it hacks into people’s accounts and use those accounts to send the viral link to their friends. If you notice that a specific post has been sent by a number of your friends on the news feed, chances are it’s a viral attack that has already affected several of your friends.

• Beware of Financial Hoaxes – money-transfer schemes have also made their way through Facebook, these often come in through chat and some can even come from people in your contacts. Make sure you verify everything with people in the real world before sending any money or information. When joining certain causes such as Red Cross or UNICEF, verify that these are real Facebook Causes accounts. Remember that you can not be forced into donating money.

• Beware of fake anti-virus offers – there are several “anti-virus” apps that have been known to contain malware. Some may be harmless scareware, however keep in mind that when you allow access to this apps they are able to get information about you and people in your contacts.  The Koobface virus, for example has the ability to look into all of the searches ever done on a computer. This is definitely something people are not willing to share.

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