Social Media Scams

Social media scams are becoming more common as these large platforms give scammers access to a large network of people. Scammers set up fake profiles on social media, messaging platforms and apps. They may pretend to be an organisation or a person in order to gain your trust. They can also pay to advertise, so that their fake profile reaches more people.

There are various ways a social media scam can operate, some of these are outlined below.

Spotting a fake profile

Be wary if someone you don’t know wants to add you as their friend. Check and see when exactly their account was set up. Long established accounts are less likely to be fake. The number of followers is another tell-tale sign. A lower number suggests it may be fake.

If it is a business profile, check to see if the logo or image seems legitimate. Scammers use copycat versions. There might be changes, even slight ones to the wording of the legitimate account, such as changing an ‘I’ to a ‘1’ or an ‘O’ to a ‘0’.

Another sign can be a suspicious post popping up a lot in your feed. Fraudsters post fake comments on popular posts that include interesting looking links which in fact direct you to phishing websites.

Top Tip

Before interacting with a company on social media, check their website for links to their social media accounts. This will help you ensure the account is genuine.

Protect yourself against social media scams:

Do

  • Make sure the person is who they say they are, check their history, activity online and number of followers
  • Be careful about sharing too much personal information on social media
  • Review and update the privacy settings for each of your social media accounts
  • Think before you click – be wary of any suspicious links sent your way
  • Change your password regularly for each of your social media accounts

Don’t

  • Add someone as a friend online unless you know them and have a need to connect
  • Be misled by cheap offers – if an offer seems too good to be true it usually is
  • Send money to any person you have only met online
  • Give out personal information in response to a social media posting
  • Pay for an item without verifying the seller is legitimate

Caught out by a social media scam?

If you have responded to an approach or request on social media and given your bank account details, notify your bank or card issuer immediately. Your account can be placed on hold and card cancelled if necessary.

Report the scam post/page to the social media company you see it on. You should also report it locally to the Gardaí.