That Person Asking For $3000 On Facebook Might Not Actually Be Your Friend
from the this-is-a-public-service-announcement dept
"Fears of impostors increase on Facebook" screams the CNN headline, followed by the tale of a guy who fell for a scam after one of his friends' Facebook account was hacked. Apparently the friend's status said "Bryan NEEDS HELP URGENTLY!!!", and the guy got a direct message saying his friend had been robbed in London and needed money to get home. So the guy did what any reasonable person would do -- he wired $2800 to a London bank account, while his friend was sitting safe and sound at home in Seattle. This type of scam is apparently becoming more common on Facebook, but it's part of the larger issue of impersonation that could grow to be a problem for it and other social networks. Social-networking profiles have become proxies for our real offline personalities, and the fact that people will buy into them wholeheartedly, like the guy in the above scam, speaks not necessarily to their gullibility but also to the level of faith people put into them. For instance, an Italian soccer star is reportedly looking at legal action against Facebook after discovering that somebody had put a fake profile of him up on the site and linked to some Nazi material. Impersonation and false profiles are something that Facebook and its ilk need to deal with sooner, rather than later. If their users' trust in the veracity of online profiles is lost, the social networks will lose a large part of their attraction.
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Filed Under: scams, social networks
Companies: facebook
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proxy personality?
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Re:
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No (*^&( Sherlock
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Whatever happened to 'trust but verify' let alone picking up the phone?
There are a million holes in this scam, this was one of them.
I wonder if he wants to help a Nigerian ex-pat rescue her inheritance?
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A fool and his money are soon parted.
So, will you all please send me $3,000 so I can get back to reading other websites?
Thanks!
Sincerely,
Your friend [insert your friend's name here].
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Re: A fool and his money are soon parted.
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From the this-has-been-done-before dept.
I heard a slightly newer version recently. In Indianapolis earlier this year a fellow accosted me downtown and aske me to pay for a fill up on his truck. He was supposedly robbed and did not have a credit card or money and needed to get to Michigan for an important business deal. He said that he would send me the money as soon as he got home. I saw that guy twice that same night over a course of about two hours. Hmmmm...
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i wonder when facebook will employ SSL for their login system because at the moment all your login details are passed to the server from your browser in CLEAR TEXT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
so in light of that lil nugget & the main topic the social engineer tryin to dupe you may actualy be using a real account! access to which could be gained by some variety of traffic sniffing!
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reasonable?
Maybe I'm not reasonable but I wouldn't wire money without proof and/or direct contact with the friend in question.
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You were laughing when you typed that, right? Any "reasonable" person would verify the source, first, before sending any money anywhere.
Social-networking profiles have become proxies for our real offline personalities, and the fact that people will buy into them wholeheartedly, like the guy in the above scam, speaks not necessarily to their gullibility but also to the level of faith people put into them.
Again, you were laughing while typing that, I'm sure. Because this speaks only to the guy's level of gullibility -- frankly, if he wasn't so gullible he wouldn't put so much faith in ANYTHING on the Internet, especially easily-faked and easily-hijacked Facebook profiles.
You need to think more before you write.
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Facebook and scams
Facebook needs to help users help themselves. Before the "victim" sent $2800.00 to London, (s)he could have called or emailed the friend to verify authenticity. I think Facebook or ??? has the right to expect such caution on the part of users, and should not be blamed if they don't do their part.
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Re: Facebook and scams
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Re: Facebook and scams
wtf dude
is that all you can say ?
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