If you can find a website, look for contact information, as no contact info is a red flag and a tell-tale sign of a scam.
If you can’t find a website, it’s most likely a fake.
Do you know how to spot one?Īlways be skeptical of a second friend request from someone with whom you are already connected. Or, go the extra step and call, text, or email the friend to see if they really did send it to you.Ĭar scams: Flood-damaged cars about to flood the marketplace. Before you do anything check that the Facebook profile image is from who it says it is. The profile is publicly visible and copied by a cyber thief who then creates a new profile and is now sending out new friend requests to a bogus account that looks like it's your friend. But, if you’re not sure contact your friend of the charity directly.Ī third version is circulating where the “friend” believes their account has been hacked and asks you to friend them on a new request. Or is it? Many charities and their supporters are using Facebook for this purpose. The message appears to be coming from someone you know and trust. They'll push for a donation and yet, it sounds suspicious. In another version, the “friend” claims to be raising money for a charity to support emergency personnel, a food bank or some other organization that has really been hit hard by the pandemic. Protect your vehicle: Catalytic converter thefts have gone up by nearly 300%.
Ask yourself, would your real friend pass along this type of information? These tools don’t actually stop the scams or impersonations from happening, but hopefully the additional warnings will give people some pause before they give away personal information or send money to scammers.In some cases, perhaps you want to take part in the offer and are ready to pay a processing fee and tax. For instances where an account that has been created to look like someone you know, Messenger will also warn users that this account appears to be similar to someone you know and that the person you’re chatting with might not actually be your friend. Now whenever you receive a message from a stranger not part of your friend’s list on Facebook Messenger, you will get a warning that it could either be a scam or an impersonator.įor example when receiving a message from a stranger, Messenger will show you a warning that offers some advice, like refusing requests to send money. In case it wasn’t already obvious, Facebook is now trying to do their part to warn users about these messages. These days, it’s not uncommon to get random messages or friend requests from complete strangers.Ī lot of times, these are fake accounts designed to spread scams. This is because back then, not many people used them and as such, there is a good chance that who you were talking to could be an actual person. During the early days of social media, it was relatively easy to trust messages you received on these platforms.