Social media has evolved beyond a way for people to communicate and share information online, so much so that many companies, large and small, allocate portions of their marketing budgets towards the development of social media campaigns.
Unfortunately, there are quite a few social media scams floating around cyberspace, designed to prey on unsuspecting social networking site users. Here are some of the most common social media scams to watch out for.
Money Requests From Phony Friends
If you received a message on Facebook from a friend who said that they needed money, what would you do? If the answer is, “send the money, of course,” you’d better think twice. Certain types of malware have the ability to steal your contact information—or the contact information from a friend’s infected computer, and send out phony messages and requests. Call your friend first to confirm that they sent the request.
“Free” Quizzes
While taking quizzes on social media sites can be fun, it isn’t worth it (literally) if you have to enter your cell phone number or other contact information in order to see the results. Yes, it’s fun to discover which Harry Potter character you are or whether or not he or she is “The One.” However, you may see a mysterious charge on your next cell phone bill, or discover that your cell phone number has been launched into cyberspace. Better to keep things like your cell phone number under wraps, and be very careful about what contact information you give out.
The Chain Letter
The chain letter is a scam dating back to the 1800’s, when unscrupulous individuals would send out letters urging people to send in money to support the efforts of phony missionaries, and to send similar letters to all of their friends. You have to give the chain letter credit, though, for its ability to evolve. Now chain letters come in the form of Tweets, urging people to re-tweet so that a celebrity will donate to a charity or some other event will take place. Think twice before you fall for one of the oldest scams in the book.
When visiting social media sites, and trying to decide whether or not to send that money, take that quiz, or re-tweet, remember the old saying—If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.
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About the author: Jeune Ortiz is VP of Marketing and Creative Director at future-ink. With more than 20 years of experience in graphic design and marketing, Jeune brings extensive knowledge and creativity to each website and internet marketing solution to grow your business.
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