Social Media Scams and How to Avoid Them

With social media providing scammers with more ways than ever to take advantage of unsuspecting users, especially through financial scams, social media scams are as commonplace as ever with millions of people falling victim to them every year. To help combat this problem, XTB.com have identified five of the most common social media scams at this moment in time and have provided some tips on how to identify and avoid these scams: Investment and Cryptocurrency Scams: One of the most popular methods that scammers are using to scam users on social media is fake investment opportunities. Whether it be Forex, cryptocurrency or stocks, scammers will contact you with promises of high returns and zero risk through claims of insider knowledge of the market or other connections. How to avoid this scam:

• Only invest through trusted entities that are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority or another top tier regulator.
• Do not share personal information with anyone until you have verified their legitimacy.
• Do not send money to anyone who has reached out over social media direct messages with “too good to be true” investment opportunities.

Social Media Account Takeover Fraud: This scam involves the scammer gaining access to your social media profile and using it to post fake investment opportunities, share links to phishing opportunities and also gain access to your friends and family member accounts. How to avoid this scam:

• Beware if a friend is sending you messages or posting things that aren’t things they would normally say.
• Beware if they are posting about investment opportunities or if they are asking you for money out of the blue.
• To avoid your own account being taken over, always be wary of phishing scams from others and through your email and enable two-factor authentication (2FA) where possible.

Fake Online Stores and Counterfeit Products: Scammers frequently use social media ads to promote fake businesses and products. These ads often utilise extremely low prices for so-called “high-quality” products to attract attention to their ads, however, they never fulfil any orders placed through them – leaving the scammers with your money/information. How to avoid this scam:

• Keep an eye out for low quality images in the ads, as this is a sign of a potential scam.
• Be wary of extremely low prices for what appear to be high-value products.
• If you have any concerns over the company/product you are interested in, search for them on Google to see if there are any reviews or warnings.

Impersonator Account Scams: Through this method, scammers will create a fake social media with someone else’s name, photos and other identifying information and attempt to request money, post fake giveaways or send links for phishing scams. Some may even impersonate influencers or celebrities. How to avoid this scam:

• Always check if the account is verified, especially if it’s the account of a celebrity.
• Similar to other scams, avoid sending money to anyone who has contacted you through social media as this is very likely a scam, especially if this is a “celebrity”.

Fake Job Scams: Scammers have taken advantage of the current working from home landscape and have begun posting fake remote job opportunities from which the scammers hope to obtain either money or information from you. These scams frequently offer incredible positions with extremely high salaries to attract as many people as possible. How to avoid this scam:

• Be wary if it is a job that pays a very high amount of money for what appears to be not much work.
• Always double check that the company/business that is supposedly looking to employ you is legitimate through a Google search or on Glassdoor for example.
• If they expect you to pay for training or equipment up front, this is very likely a scam, as you would never be expected to do so with a legitimate job offer.