04/02/2021
Sadly, there are always going to be some nasty individuals who will seek to spread mayhem, through viruses and malware; hacking your Facebook accounts, spoofing your emails and using phishing methods to access your private information.
A number of people I know have recently been hit by a version of this doing the rounds via Facebook Messenger.
You see this message from a trusted friend or relative and you naturally assume that it's a video of an event you attended together, sometime in the past. You've known this person for years, decades, all your life. So, surely, it's okay.
You click on the link and it opens up a browser window, asking you to log into Facebook; it could of course be a different social media platform, or a vendor or service provider.
In this particular example, this should alert many people to the fact that it's suspicious. After all, if you are in Facebook Messenger and the link is in Facebook, it should simply open Facebook on your device.
However, you should not feel foolish if you succumb to the trick. That is after all what it was designed to do; trick you into logging into your account, and allowing them (or a computer system they designed) to take control of your account.
So, what should you do?
If you can, or are, accessing Facebook via a browser on your computer, look to the top right corner of the Facebook page. You will an arrow on the right, pointing down.
Click that arrow.
In the menu, select Settings & Privacy, then Settings. A new menu will pop up. Choose Security and Login and then click the dropdown for Where You're Logged In.
A list of all of the devices that you've logged into and their locations will pop up. If there is a login you don't recognise, chances are you may have been hacked. If you see anything that isn't you, click the three dots to the right and select Not You? from the options.
Facebook will then take you through the steps of checking your account and resetting your security.
Remember, this happens a lot and you shouldn't feel that you have done anything wrong. However, hopefully, the experience will help safeguard you from being caught out again.
How to keep your Facebook account safe
After you secure your account, make it safer. Facebook is jam-packed with security features, which you can activate. Open Facebook in your browser and go to Settings > Security and Login > Setting Up Extra Security.
From there, you can:
turn on login alerts so that you receive notifications when your account is logged into. This helps you catch a hacker early, before any major damage is done;
enable two-factor authentication, then choose an extra layer of security from the list; and
choose your trusted contacts and add a few close friends or family members that can help you unlock your account if it ever becomes hacked.
Additional Scams to be Aware of
Phishing Emails
When you receive an email that you aren't expecting, or one that just doesn't seem quite right, hover over or click on the senders email address. With many scams or phishing emails, this will show the actual address of the sender.
Obviously, the above example isn't a typical phishing email, but it was all I had in my junk folder at the time of writing this. The actual phishing emails might come from, or appear to come from, a bank, PayPal, the Inland Revenue or a supplier, such as phone companies.
Like Farming
If a Facebook page is giving something away, especially something spectacular, it's worth giving some thought as to whether it is actually real.
I have to say that these appear to have slowed up, so perhaps people are becoming more aware about the prevalence of such things. A few years ago, there were, it seemed, endless promotions being shared on Facebook.
Some of these are fake giveaways of cars, holidays, electronic gadgets and the like. Frequently, the posts are quite obviously fake; poor grammar or completely unrealistic giveaways. Sometimes the posts look more realistic.
However, if you look down the Facebook page of the 'company', you will generally find that they have only recently been set up.
I've seen these for Disney World, P&O Cruises, Mercedes Benz and more. Sometimes it's Samsung, sometimes it's Apple.
A disturbing type of these Like Farming scams are those that tug on the hearth strings, frequently mixing images of sick children with calls for religious acknowledgement.
Lots of people claim that it can't harm to click 'Like', to comment 'Amen' or to share. But, they are wrong. The more people do this, the more the scammers are winning and the more people will see these posts.
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