A word of caution for Facebook users: Hackers and scam artists are now using promotions and all other sorts of come-ons to victimize users into falling for phishing traps or giving up personal information. It is important to know what to do to avoid becoming a victim as well as securing your system to prevent any unwanted data breaches.
As more and more people continue to use Facebook – both for personal and business purposes – it seems to follow that all sorts of unscrupulous individuals and groups will find ways to exploit this popularity for their own illicit benefit.
In the same way people are phished through email, hackers and scammers use similar techniques to fool Facebook users into falling for their tricks. The combination of curiosity and trust is what hackers rely on to make users fill in contact details for non-existent promotions, visit suspicious websites, or download fake software, all through Facebook. While Facebook has instituted some additional security measures to counter this threat, the consensus is that it is a generally lukewarm, or even cursory response to the issue.
What makes it worse is that you aren’t usually the first victim – those links and whatnot appear on your News Feed courtesy of a contact who has fallen into the same trap. So always be wary of events or promos your contacts invite you to join.
The most important thing is to have both the right knowledge and software to prevent getting scammed not only on Facebook, but anywhere else on the Web. Facebook is just a new medium for scammers and hackers to steal information and data – and they’ll do the same thing once the next big thing on the Web comes along.
If you want to know more about Facebook scams and how you can better protect yourself – both through training and the right software solutions – please feel free to give us a call so we can help you set up a more secure system for your business that’s custom-built to meet your specific needs.
