Protect Yourself: How to Avoid Social Media Scams

Social media platforms are a great way to connect with people, access information from all around the world, market your brand, and have some fun. However, there is also a dark side of social media networks — apart from having some negative effects on our mental health, social media networks can be breeding grounds for scammers.

Even though the most popular social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok, are constantly improving their algorithms to protect users from scammers, there is only so much they can do. That’s why you, as a user, need to be careful when using social media and related services. For example, if you want to boost your Instagram account by ordering Instagram likes or boost your Twitter account by buying Twitter retweets, use reputable sites such as SocialBoss.

If you want to learn more about fraud and scams on social media, keep reading this article. Here, we will also tell you more about protecting yourself against common social media scams, so stay tuned!

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What Are Social Media Scams?

As their name suggests, these scams happen on social media platforms. Scammers use their social media accounts to find and reach out to their victims. In most cases, scammers create fake profiles to do this because they don’t want to be exposed. However, there are many different types of social media scams. So, before we show you how to prevent social media scams, let’s first get you familiar with the most common ones:

Social Media Scams Examples

No matter which social media platform you use, you should learn how to avoid social media scams by learning more about them. Also, watch out for some social media scams warning signs:

• unsolicited messages from strangers;
• offers that are too good to be true;
• people showing too much interest in your personal life and other personal details;
• pressure tactics trying to create a sense of urgency;
• weird and suspicious links;
• poorly written messages that might look like they were Google translated to your language.

Fake Giveaways

This is a common social media scam in which the scammer pretends to give away lucrative gifts to lucky “winners.” Usually, to “win” the prize, victims are encouraged to send them a direct message, in which they will be told that they won the prize. However, to get the prize, they will need to share their personal or financial information or even send money. Don’t fall for it; there is no prize, and you can only get scammed.

Identity Theft

Sometimes, scammers will pretend to be someone you know or a well-known company or brand. They will create extremely convincing fake social media accounts and then use these fake profiles to contact you. If you fall for their ruse, they will use it to either ask you for money or valuable personal info, which they can use to steal your identity as well and scam even more people.

Social Media Quizzes Scammers

This is another popular strategy amongst scammers on social media, designed to steal your personal and even financial data. By solving these “quizzes,” users share their private info, and scammers can use that info to break into your other accounts and then either steal your identity or demand money to give your accounts back. For example, a quiz may ask you the name of your first pet, which is also a common security question for various user accounts.

Phishing Scams

Speaking of online accounts, be aware of suspicious links or fake social media login pages. These links and pages will prompt you to click on them, and then either make you download malware or share your login info and sensitive data (SSN number, ID card number, bank account number password, etc.)

Romance Scams

Some scammers even make fake accounts to start online romantic relationships with their victims through direct messages. Of course, the whole “romance” part is just pretending, usually to persuade you to send them money or to invest money in shady websites. How to stop a scammer from doing this to you? Don’t fall for sudden romantic advances from strangers. If you want to meet a new partner, use dating apps. Stay vigilant even when using these apps — if your match is trying to talk to you about finances and investing, block them and move on.

Investment Scams

These scams are so common that they deserve to be mentioned separately. Even though they often go hand in hand with romance scams, that’s now always the case. With investment scams, scammers befriend you or act as a long-lost friend family member, and then they share an “amazing investing opportunity,” which is completely fake.

10+ Ways To Avoid Online Scams

Now that you know how to spot the most common scams, here is how to not get scammed:

1. Protect your social media account by using strong and unique passwords.
2. Don’t share personal and financial information, both through your posts and when messaging someone.
3. Use 2-factor authentication.
4. Don’t click on suspicious links.
5. Don’t communicate with strangers.
6. Don’t send explicit pictures or videos of you.
7. Update your devices and software.
8. Don’t trust in too-good-to-be-true offers.
9. If you get an unexpected or unusual message from familiar people or companies, contact them through other channels of communication to verify it’s them.
10. Keep an eye on your financial statements.
11. Use a secure Wi-Fi network.
12. Research the legitimacy of online sellers and stores.
13. Only use reputable social media services, such as SocialBoss.
14. Educate yourself on scams.

Also, if you wonder how to trick a scammer after you have spotted them trying to scam you, don’t do it. In many cases, they are professionals, and if you try to trick them, they might trick you instead. Stay away, block, and forget about them.

Conclusion

So, now you know how to avoid being scammed online. Stay vigilant, educate yourself, and never trust strangers on the Internet. If you have been scammed, try to minimize the damage, notify your bank, your friends and family, and try to report the case to authorities. Stay safe!