Supermarket Vouchers For Free?
One of the regular occurring scams is back, being spread mostly by WhatsApp at the moment but likely to be popping up on other platforms like Facebook and Twitter Read more
Supermarket Voucher Scam
Tag: Fraud
Fake Banking Text Messages
Which? show how easy it is to send fake text messages ‘from your bank’
A recent Which? shoes how easy it is to fake text messages as being from your bank or credit card company. In the report the journalist along with ‘ethical hacker’ Scott Mcgready are able to create and send convincing fake emails that show up alongside genuine text messages from a bank. Read more
Fraud Aware
Fraudsters Don’t See Tragedy, They See Opportunity
After any major incident, many people turn to the internet to find out more information and to see if there is any way in which they can help. The majority of us will be shocked by tragic events as we see them unfold, more so when the incident is closer to home.
Unfortunately, the fraudsters know this, and don’t look at these events with sympathy, but look at them as an opportunity to scam people. Make it second nature to verify the sources of information you share, think before you click.
Scams
Scams that crop up after an incident can vary and take on many forms. They can be from people just out to harvest ‘likes’ by creating and sharing memes or making up stories about fictitious people ‘who were there’ when it happened, or they can be criminals out to pinch your bank details.
Often, the fraudsters will use social media to share a photo with a sentimental message or outraged caption, and will use any tactics then can to pull on your heart strings to get you to forward or re-share the post.
Expect them to exploit photos of affected people and paint sad stories to get you to hand over your money.
Who To Trust
Use some common sense when deciding if a link you’re about to click is genuine.
- If the link came via email or instant messenger, check with the email sender that they intended to send it, they many not be aware if their account has been compromised.
- This is doubly important if the email or message says something along the lines of “I’ve changed my bank details” – double check in person or over the phone. This is a common and well known scam.
- Fake News is a massive problem at the moment and unlikely to go away, websites like Metafact, Full Fact and Redaction Watch are just a few that can help you identify fake news. (Read more about these sites here)
- Check the validity of any links before you click them, it may say www.TrustWorthyWebsite.com in the text, but hover your mouse over it to find out where it’s really linked to first.
- In a recent post, we listed some websites that have been setup to identify and correct either mistakenly made claims or outright fake news.
https://tinsleynet.co.uk/2019/truth-or-fiction/
- In a recent post, we listed some websites that have been setup to identify and correct either mistakenly made claims or outright fake news.
- If a URL shortener has been used, (the link looks like sh.ort/Wg5SDS or something similar) check the full-length URL on the shortner website used, or use a trusted third-party website like www.checkshorturl.com
- Check with someone in authority. If a Just Giving page has been setup by Bob claiming that he’s raising money for the recent incident, how can you be sure your donation is going where he says? Just because he mentions various valid aid organisations in the link does not mean they endorse him or have any connection to him.
- Seen a photo of a young child with a caption “This person is missing, please share this link to help find her” – think…
How is sharing this link going to help find someone?
Is it at all likely that the missing person or someone they know is reading Social Media?
Can you be sure that person is really missing? is there a police reference number?
Check the facts first! - Look at the date when the first share was made, was it recently or several months ago?
- Is the source of the information genuine and trustworthy? Just because someone says that ‘The Police have asked…’ doesn’t mean it’s true. If it is true then there should be a link back to an official page with verifiable details. Don’t take someone else’s word as fact without checking it first.
#WeCanHelp
We can help you sort the truth from the lies, and show you how to identify fraudulent emails and links. We can even configure and install hardware designed to filter out the fake news.
Facebook Scams : No one will share this…
Facebook Scams That Demean Others
You may have seen posts with status messages along the lines of:
- No one will share this because she is disabled
- Nobody Likes me just because…
- Click Like and type Amen
- Share and type YES if you…
And a photo of someone showing a disability or with a disfiguration or medical condition, encouraging you to share the post because no one else will. But these posts are fake and demeaning to the people featured in the photos.
What the posts say they are for
The posts suggest the person in the photo is the original poster and that you, as the reader, are ashamed of them because of their background or disability. It suggests that you help them by sharing the post, liking, and possibly also typing some message or word underneath.
What you should do
The posts are fake, they are designed to make you feel emotionally involved to increase user interaction. They are conning unsuspecting, kind-hearted Facebook users into interacting with the posts (sharing, commenting and liking) out of shame and pity.
If you come across one of these posts, you should block and report the page using the arrow on the top right of the shared post (be careful here not to block and report your friend by mistake!) If you don’t feel confident in reporting the page as spam, then just ignore the post.
It’s not going to hurt anyone if I do share it though…
The photos used on these posts (some of them are edited before posting to make it look like they have a missing limb) are stolen from Facebook profiles, Flickr groups or other photo sharing sites and used without permission from the person featured in them.
The posts are disrespectful to the person in them, and in sharing the photo you are unsuspectingly spreading the hurt they cause the victim.
Why are they doing this?
The posters have only one interest in mind, to promote themselves on Facebook at the cost of the poor victims in their posts. Their goal is to get as many people to share and comment on their horrid posts.
Facebook calls this kind of interaction ‘organic’ and the more organic shares, likes and comments a page can generate, the more popular Facebook considers it to be. This helps promote the page on Facebook, and once they have all this ‘positive’ organic feedback, they can then use the page for other uses, like promoting hate speech, trying to distort the ‘now trending’ section on Facebook with their own agenda, and possibly spreading links to other similar Facebook pages and websites.
#WeCanHelp
If you need help with using social media, and in spotting fake and spammy content, we are involved in a free-to-attend drop-in IT training session where you can find out how to be more social on social media. Contact us for information, or head along to the Hub at Ashmore Park, Wednesfield on a Wednesday between 10am – 1pm.
07825650122 | it@tinsleyNET.co.uk | @tinsleyNET | +tinsleyNETcouk | www.tinsleynet.co.uk | Facebook | #Stuff4Steph
tinsleyNET IT Services Consultant
IT Support for small to medium or large sized businesses, home office workers and home users
across the UK based in the West Midlands and Shropshire.
#WeCanHelp