Facebook Scams?

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Hello I'm New here! Joined: 27 Jul 2011 Posts: 1

Used to visit this site a lot years ago, so excuse this being the first post on a new profile.

Anyway before I put out a warning to my facebook friends, I just want to check if anybody has noticed a random increase in african/nigerian "people you may know".

It could be completely innocent I know, suddenly one day I noticed lots of people with friends I have no idea how they have got to know, and as yet not had chance to speak to them. I am usually quite good at spotting these patterns after spending a lot of time here years ago.

Am I the only one to notice this? Or is this old news and well known to you guys?

Either way I would like to know. I will also check rest of forum for related topics, so sorry if I am repeating an old question.

Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2011 9:59 am

You are right; a lot of scammers have moved to social networking sites recently. Facebook is just one of them, there is increased scamming on LinkedIn and specialised sites - religious groups, self-help forums for various diseases, biker forums, pets, yachting ... you name it.

Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2011 1:16 pm

There's been a massive surge in lads trying to use more targeted approaches, not just wild bulk email formats, and social networks are a big part of this. These can be very insidious as it can be hard to start baiting them (vs a randomly sent out email).

Facebook scammers are tough because you don't really want to use your real life identity to get in contact with them. And also keep in mind that some of your social network contacts may have real friends or contacts with African names, so this itself is not necessarily a signal of scam - you might put your foot in your mouth in a big way if you start sending out warnings to friends and family.

It is possible to bait scammers using facebook or other social media - set up a fake account and send a friend request to a scammer you found elsewhere (having verified, of course, that this is indeed a scammer - not always easy). Sort of like sending an ASEM.

Oh one other note, the admin team here can probably resurrect your old profile - just send a PM or post in the technical related forum.