10 www.alliancecom.net 1. Romance scams The scammer initiates an online relationship, building trust with you. They may correspond with you for weeks, revealing what appears to be very personal information. Eventually, they request money for a flight, a visa, or another important reason. Never send money to someone you haven’t met. 2. Lottery scams An organization will contact you, claiming you’ve won a lottery and can claim your money for a small fee. Before responding, consider whether you’ve entered any contests lately. Keep in mind that real contests don’t require a fee to claim your winnings. 3. Loan scams Here, the criminals send messages or create posts offering immediate loans at a low interest rate for a small fee. They may draw you in by mentioning things you could use the loan for, such as to pay off student loans or buy a car. But don’t buy it. Legitimate loan sources don’t require a fee. 4. Coupon code scams The trickster will post an offer to a coupon code but will require your personal information before granting access to it. Consider whether saving a few bucks is worth giving away your valuable information. Companies that really want your business will simply list the code for you to use. 5. Job scams Scammers post fake job postings online to try to get your personal information or money. It can be tempting if you’re conducting a job search to follow every possible lead, but no legitimate employer should be asking for those things. 6. Fake medical fundraisers Scammers will send messages or create posts, posing as someone in medical distress and requesting funds to help with doctor bills. This method can work particularly well if the profile is a clone of the profile of someone you personally know. Tugging at your heartstrings is a way of drawing you in. 7. Shopping scams In this case, scammers will create a fake shopping account and publish offers at unusually low prices, requesting your money and sending nothing in return. Be sure to do your homework on any company before conducting business with them on Facebook or anywhere else. 8. Giveaway scams You’ll see an offer on Facebook that talks about giving away a valuable item like an iPad and includes a link that supposedly leads to a form you need to fill out to enter. But that link instead leads to malware. Always think twice before clicking a link from unknown sources. 8 Common Facebook Scams Learn how to spot and sidestep scammers’ tricks Though many social media users have moved to Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok, Facebook is still a prime target for scammers. Read on to find out how they work so you can sidestep their tricks.
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