Scammers have developed new methods to deceive people, including malicious texts, emails, websites mimicking well-known brands, social media posts, visual discovery platforms, and discussion forums.
In light of this, Meta launched a global anti-scam awareness campaign to help people stay safe online and on their apps. It also shared information on the relevant safety tools that it launched on Facebook Marketplace, WhatsApp and Instagram.
Meta has partnered with an internet safety expert and ethical hacker, Rachel Tobac, to share how scammers might be targeting people online this holiday season and how to avoid scams.
Tips to avoid scams
1. Be on alert for phishing emails and text: Scammers may send a text or email from an address that may look like it is from a known brand or bank.
2. Avoid sharing personal information: Scammers may trick you into confirming your bank details over text or email or participating in a survey.
3. Be vigilant when paying online: Scammers may try to get you to pay upfront or use peer-to-peer payments that cannot be reversed.
Festive season scams to watch out for
Meta worked with open-source researchers at Graphika to find and disrupt scams that take advantage of the holiday season.
Here are examples of three common scams to watch out for ahead of the holidays, according to Graphika’s research.
Promise of Christmas gift boxes
Scammers will post photos of fake prizes on multiple apps and online discussion forums. If someone comments on the posts, the scammers direct them to messaging apps or websites and ask for details such as their email, phone number, address, income level and outstanding debts to win the prize
Discount holiday decorations
Scammers are targeting people by offering them artificial Christmas trees and decorations at extremely low prices. The scammers will copy videos of holiday decorations from real people across the internet, and, after adding AI-generated voiceovers describing the goods and warning of limited stock, they posted these videos on multiple platforms.
If someone responds, the scammers would direct them to websites, including some created using Shopify services, to make a purchase that would never arrive.
Holiday coupons
Scammers would also offer people fake coupons and gift cards to trick the victim into providing personal information.
The scammers will post on various platforms and direct people to websites mimicking social media. People will be prompted to fill out a survey with their gender, age, income, employment status and level of interest in cryptocurrencies in order to enter a prize draw. These websites will also show fake comments from people claiming they had won in previous draws.
Meta anti-scam tools
These are the latest anti-scam tools that Meta rolled out this year to help users stay safe.
On WhatsApp, if someone you don’t know messages you or adds you to a group, you can now see a context card that gives you more information about the user or the group.
On Instagram, if an account that is suspected to be engaging in potentially scamming activities requests to follow you, Meta will remind you to be aware of potentially suspicious interactions.
On Marketplace, Meta has rolled out warnings to alert you if Meta has detected messages that follow the patterns of known scam scenarios.
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