More Facebook, Twitter Scams to Avoid
From get-rich-quick schemes to pornographic robots, the latest social networking scams reveal just how much more sophisticated the crooks are getting
It has been proven that even though social network users are concerned with their security, they don't take the proper precautions to protect themselves. They will suffer from malware, phishing, weak passwords and scams. Scams, from year to year, have become more sophisticated and tricky.Tweet for cash - Can you imagine getting paid for tweeting? Remember the email scam where you could work from home emailing and make money? Now it's twitter. Those who fall for the scheme will be asked to pay $1.95 for a Twitter for Cash Starter Kit. They are asked to put in their credit card for payment. Now this person/company has your credit card to use and do with what they want to. Of course you get the kit usually with a free trial period. But by the time you get your credit card bill, you have charges on your bill that you didn't authorize.
Ur Cute-Msg Me on MSN - Again this is another scam that was used with email. This one is where you get a tweet that features a sexy woman instead of the 140 word tweet. Embedded in the picture is a msg asking you to contact them on MSN. The conversation in the chat room isn't even with a real person. This bot is programmed to get you to an adult website and the rest is history.
Social networking is the now crave to keep in touch with family and friends. Unfortunately, scammers see it as an opportunity to take advantage of users. They have gotten very innovative too. User will need to be more careful. Awareness is the name of the game. Using common sense, most of the time, will suffice.
Being on guard every time you twitter or write in Facebook tires me out. I would rather leave it alone and write a letter or go visit someone to communicate with them. I know twitter and Facebook span over millions and millions of miles. Their messages that are sent are instantaneously received saving time and money. Call me ole skool...I value my safety.
Remember: If it sounds too good to be true...it is. If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck...it's a duck.
Deborah, I love the site. My I have been on a social networking kick for the last couple of weeks with my blog, so i enjoyed this read. I went through my spam box for yahoo this week, just to see if I missed an email. And the amount of spam was crazy. I think this tells a bigger role about society. That people want to take the easy way, and too many people look to take advantage then be honest. And I so agree with it takes to much energy to be online. And I don't feel it should be that way.
ReplyDeleteYou know that saying "They spent more time trying to get around the system then they would have the right way, if they just put all that energy to good use they would be great". Applies to here to me.
Deborah, great blog post! I have seen so many people get scammed over the past few years. It is amazing how many different scams are out there now. I have learned to identify scams by a few key factors; 1), anytime you are asked to pay money to make money, it's a scam, 2) if you don't recognize the e-mail address, don't open the e-mail or any attachments, 3) no true business/organization will send you an e-mail asking you to provide/verify your personal identifiable information online (such as a security number, password, or bank account number). So far, these three rules have kept me from having security issues the past few years (knock on wood)!!
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