Social Media Scams

Social media scams

Be suspicious of anyone who unexpectedly contacts you on social media. Scammers use these platforms to gain your trust and steal your money.

Scammers set up fake profiles on social media,  messaging platforms and apps. They may pretend to be a friend, family member or interested in a relationship. They impersonate the government, real businesses, employers and investment or online trading platforms.

They may:

• impersonate celebrities or public figures to recommend and promote products or services (these include AI-generated 'deepfakes' and fake news)
• use the logo of real organisation they are pretending to be
• use other people's photos and identities to create fake profiles to make friends with you and gain your trust.

Scammers learn a lot about you from what you share on social media, and deceive you into sharing personal information. They use this to guess your passwords or target you with other scams.

Warning signs it might be a scam

Stop and think. It could be a scam if the post or message:

• shows or suggest that a celebrity or public figure recommends or promotes a product or service
• comes from someone you've only met online or by phone, urgently asking for your money to help pay for a personal emergency
• threatens to share a private image of you unless you pay them money.

Social media scams use common tactics like:

• offering a way to make quick, easy money with little risk or effort
• inviting you to enter a competition or limited time offer
• offering to buy something you're selling for a high price without seeing it first
• offering items for much lower prices than usual or compared to other sites
• saying they live overseas and can’t meet you in person. 

These simple steps can help prevent loss of or personal information to scams.

Make sure the person is who they say they are

• Research profiles to check how long an account has been active, how many friends or followers they have and how much activity they have had online including posts and photos. Lack of history, detail and followers can be a sign of a fake profile.
• Be wary if a job is offered to you without an interview, or discussion about your experience, suitability, and references. Research the recruiter and the business or individual offering the position. Contact the recruitment agency via phone numbers sourced pany investment opportunity fully before investing money. Visit MoneySmart for advice.

Be careful about what information you share on social media

• Never send money to a person you have only met online
• Never send personal pictures of yourself to someone you have only met online.

Source: https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/types-of-scams/