Pull the plug on social media scammers

Scammers create fake social media posts and profiles to entice you to share your personal or financial information. The profile may use a real company’s name or logo, and often links to a fake website where you’re asked to enter your checking account or credit card number, Social Security Number (SSN), or other sensitive information.

Common ploys include:

• Offers to receive grants or government benefits
• Deep discounts on expensive products
• Requests to report vaccine side effects
• Requests for charitable donations

If you provide your information to the scammer, they can use it to access your bank account, make fraudulent purchases, or steal your identity.

Other social media phishing tactics are quizzes that lure victims with clever questions such as “Which celebrity do you look like?” When you launch a quiz app, you may be unknowingly giving a third party access to your profile data that could be used to hijack your social media account or install malware.

How to help protect yourself: Be suspicious of unexpected communications. Especially when interacting with a new profile on social media, check their details carefully.

Does the profile have very few followers or friends? Are there misspellings in the profile? Is the profile asking for money in a “desperate” or unusual manner? These all might indicate a new or fake profile.

Instead of creating a fake profile, scammers may take over an existing one. This can happen when a scammer steals a username and password through a data breach, phishing, or malware. Scammers use the hacked profile to contact the person’s friends and family and ask for money or to promote a link to a fraudulent site they own.

How to help protect yourself: If someone you know is asking for money via instant messaging or social media, be very cautious.

Instead of responding to the instant message, contact the person with a direct phone call to verify if the request is really coming from them.

Scammers create fake social media profiles and use the promise of love to trick naive victims into sending them money. They may use a fictional name or falsely assume the identities of aid workers, military personnel, or professionals working abroad.

Once they gain your trust, they may claim to need funds for an emergency or other hardship and convince you to share your account information or send money before disappearing.

How to help protect yourself: Be wary of interacting with strangers who seem “too good to be true.” This may include strangers who quickly profess their “love” for you or offer to relocate to be closer to you.

Some telltale signs of this scam include poor or vague communication, flowery language, a small number of Facebook or Instagram pictures and posts, or a Twitter account with just a few tweets.

In job scams, victims are promised a good job in return for a small “advance fee” to secure a position that doesn’t actually exist. The phony employer may also send a new "employee" a fake check before their start date and require them to send some of the "money" back to pay for training or supplies. If the employee deposits the fake check, they will be responsible for the check amount and any money sent to the scammer.

In card cracking schemes, scammers use social media to post opportunities to make "easy money" in a way they say is “legit.” They typically request your debit card and PIN and/or mobile banking username and password to deposit a fake check into your account. They may ask you to report your card lost or stolen or that your username and password have been compromised in order to seek reimbursement from your bank. In exchange, scammers promise you a portion of the money you deposit.

After gaining access to your account, scammers can transfer money or deposit phony checks and quickly make withdrawals before your bank identifies the bad checks. Not only are you robbed of your money, but your participation in this scheme potentially makes you a co-conspirator and a criminal accomplice.²

How to help protect yourself: Always be suspicious of anyone on social media who is offering to send you money or who is asking for you to send them money.

These are warning signs that you should go slowly and do your research before taking any action.

• Do set your profiles to private and restrict your social media contacts to people you know personally.
• Do be on the lookout for suspicious posts, including limited-time offers, discounts that seem too good to be true, and requests for personal or account information.
• Do be wary of individuals you meet through social media sites, especially if they promise romance before you've met in person.
• Do create a unique username and password for each app and website you use to help protect against unauthorized access across multiple accounts.
• Don't accept friend requests from strangers.
• Don't respond to online solicitations for "easy money" and be wary of requests to send money back to an employer.
• Don't click on suspicious links, even in posts from people you know – their account may have been hacked.
• Don't fill out every field on your social media profile such as your phone number and home address – including these details increases the chance of identity theft should you be hacked.
• Don't send money to someone you have only met online. If you receive a request from a friend or family member for money, always contact them using a different method to make sure their profile was not hacked.

¹"Social media: a golden goose for scammers," FTC Consumer Protection Data Spotlight, October 6, 2023.

²"'Card Cracking' Scams", American Bankers Association.