5 scams to avoid on social networking sites

(Baonghean.vn) - Experts at security firm Proofpoint (PFPT) said that in 2015, the number of scams on social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn increased by 150% compared to the previous year.

Scammers have used social media to target hundreds of thousands of people at once, blending in with the crowd. They mimic their victims and their activities, and exploit the way people use social media to scam them.

More and more scams on social networking sites (Photo: Internet)

Here are the five most sophisticated scams currently circulating on social media sites, according to Proofpoint:

1. Open virtual customer service accounts

Scammers will open fake customer service accounts to steal bank login information, passwords, and other sensitive data. These fake accounts look similar to real accounts, but often have a missing character or an extra dash or other keyboard character.

When someone writes feedback or comments on the bank's websites, the scammer intercepts the chats, and replies to the messages like real banks.

2. Write fake comments on popular articles

A popular news story or popular article posted on a social media site will generate a lot of comments. Cybercriminals like to take advantage of that by adding their own comments with other attractively titled links to commit fraud and steal credit card information.

3. Posting fake live videos

Nowadays, more and more media companies have started sharing their shows and movies online on social networking sites, which has led to many scammers appearing on this platform as well.

Many cybersecurity vulnerabilities have appeared on Facebook (Photo: Internet)

They comment on a sports team’s Facebook page with a link that makes it appear that they can watch the game live. However, the link leads to a fake website that asks for personal information to show a video that doesn’t actually exist.

4. Fake online discount programs

Fake Vietcombank website scams customers who won prizes via Facebook. Photo: Internet

This scam is similar to the fake customer service account scam. Scammers set up online accounts that look like real businesses and then pretend to offer a promotion. They trick people into giving up their personal information in order to participate in the fake discount.

5. Conduct fake online surveys and exams

This scam has been going on for years and is designed by scammers to collect personal information for later exploitation and commercial purposes. They often use very normal-looking personal accounts to insert links to social networking sites in the form of shortened URLs.

Thanh Hien

(According to CNN)