Facebook SCAMS & HOAXES

Here I've compiled some scams that I see constantly posted on my facebook news feed. Rather than being the annoying person posting 'it's a scam' on everyone posts, I thought I'd just write my own blog about it.

Please people do not click or become fans of these pages 'cos quite frankly they are a load of crap and can cause harm to your computer if you start clicking on links and following their steps.

I know how easy it is to get sucked into thinking that they are real and that quite possibly you will receive a large sum of money or something for  free from such a big named company for just clicking one button!

These groups should be reported. Alternatively contact the company if you are not sure before clicking.

There was a gift voucher competition that Westfields was conducting at Christmas time last year (2009) which I ended up actually contacting Westfields in person and it was a real legitimate competition if any one was concerned about that one, although now I am probably on their mailing list. I believe that's one of few legitimate competitions I've seen on facebook!

Some are scams purely to just waste your time, others to make a collection of people to send spam to. Most require you to follow steps and link to external websites that may be phishing sites to steal your facebook login details. Others are advertising sites, may ask you to complete surveys or could put harmful adware on your computer through malicious links or invasive facebook applications.

Don't join these pages and remove yourself from and report these types of pages if you can.

Alot of these pages have been shut down but keep reappearing soon enough.

BASICALLY: Facebook pages that say 'follow these steps' and something will happen, do not work and are a scam!

If you know of any more than please comment on this post with a link. :)

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**Facebook Scam and Hoax List**

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*Facebook GOLD*

There is no such thing as a Facebook Gold account. The Facebook Gold status updates are designed to fool people into joining one of many bogus Facebook groups. In some cases, these groups are nothing more than foolish pranks that waste the time of Facebook users. Other variations attempt to fool members into visiting dubious third party websites or installing invasive Facebook applications. All such Facebook Gold invitations and groups should be ignored!

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*Superb Rewards*

The SuperbRewards.net site seems to not even be available in my area but many scam sites claim that they seem to be the culprits for starting such scams as giving away free gift cards and the ipod touch facebook pages (see below). 

Hence when you join their site you would probably get alot of crap adware on your computer or spam. 

That's another good reason to not join or be fans of any similar pages which will generally get you to complete steps on these fan pages and link to their external website superbrewards.net.

I have discovered that according to McAfee Site Advisor Analysis this site will spam you -

Here is their warning:

McAfee TrustedSource web reputation analysis found potential suspicious behavior on this site which may pose a security risk. Use with caution.

Avatar and the iPod touch are also part of this scam company's ploy.

Here's the FB AD you might have seen: 

And of course when you click on it you get a new scam page. This one focused on the upcoming iPad release. Sure looks a lot like the BEST BUY and TARGET ads (below).

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 *Free Gift Voucher for the first 20,000 fans*

Brands hijacked on facebook such as Target (AU) , Best Buy (USA) etc
Here are the latest fan pages that I was able to search:

The newest TARGET Facebook scam page is up. Please visit this page, and report it as abusive on the bottom left of the page. It is believed that superbrewards.net are responsible for these facebook scams. They will generally ask you to become a fan , invite all your friends and to complete the step click on this link.. which will take you to an external website - DO NOT DO IT!!! These pages will generally lead you to joining such sites as superbrewards.net which could be harmful to your computer or send you spam. (see scam above)

These pages will ask you to follow these easy steps (shown below)

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*Try this product and receive it for free*

Free Apple IPad if you test them out is the latest scam - Other similar scams include iphones and ibooks etc

Apple will not give away these for free for becoming a fan! Do not complete these steps, they could link to malicious websites!

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*Change the colour of your facebook profile*

Do not become a fan of these 'colour change' pages because like the other scam sites it will be to invite all of your friends and then click on an external link to a survey website. Some are just a waste of time cos they don't work. DODGY!!!

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*Find out which of your friends has blocked you*

This is a hoax and due to Facebook Privacy Rules it is does not work.

I'll say it again - IT DOES NOT WORK! Some will make you possibly install invasive applications.

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*Facebook Stalker Trackers*

Most of them are just novelty apps that show who you interact with most and not actually who has viewed your page etc.
Some applications at least make note that : for privacy reasons, this app only lists users who have interacted with your profile at least once during your friendship (e.g. by writing on your wall, or liking something). Real stalkers (the creepy kind) are protected by Facebook Privacy, and will never be revealed, by this or any other app.  Once upon a time there was possibly a facebook tracker that did show who viewed your page but it was since removed by facebook as it is against their privacy policy. 
Other Profile Stalker Pages that request you to complete steps could also supply harmful links to malicious sites so do not join them. I won't say it again lol

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*Facebook is closing down*

Yet another copy cat hoax email of the old Hotmail account closure hoax . The message warns that Facebook will close down unless 1 million people join a new group within 7 days. 

The warning reads:

FACEBOOK WILL SHUT DOWN IN 7 DAYS IF 1,000,000 PEOPLE DONT JOIN THIS GROUP!

I JUST GOT THE NEWS FROM MARK ZUKERBURG THAT I HAVE TO MAKE A GROUP AND HAVE 1,000,000 PEOPLE JOIN IT IN 7 DAYS OR FACEBOOK WILL SHUTDOWN!

INVITE ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS!

HURRY WE ONLY HAVE 7 DAYS!

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*Facebook will charge $14.99 a month*

Message warning that a Facebook group that protests against a supposed charge of $14.99 per month for Facebook services has links that point to a malicious website.

. The claim that Facebook is about to start charging for services is untrue. This false claim was apparently the bait used to trick people into visiting the bogus group. Lots of similar groups and fan pages have been created regarding this. It's all a load of crap. Some may have links to malware pages so do not join these groups!

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*'Is this your photo or video?' Phishing Links*

 If you happen to receive a message that says (among other things) “ROFL…is that you…*random URL*?” — DO NOT FOLLOW IT. Doing so will result in the theft of your Facebook login and password and a nightmare for your Facebook friends who will begin to get spammed by your now bot controlled account. The best course of action? No matter who it is and what picture you may think is lurking after the link, leave it alone.

Other examples- with dodgy links often posted to inbox, on wall or via chat. It's a virus do not click on it!

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*Facebook Anti-Virus*

F-Secure has spotted a kind of rogue anti-virus spreading on Facebook. Using a variety of names including Facebook Antivirus, Antivirus in Focebook and F'acebook antivirus. (Note the misspellings. According to F-Secure, Facebook is working on blocking the scams now.

The link to the application comes in a spammed message from a friend.
It asks for access to your profile, and the chain continues.

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*Become a fan to see this photo*

Examples include - 'I can't believe such and such looked like this" etc
example:



Firstly they are mostly a waste of time you could just google the photo and get a quicker result. Secondly some will ask you to follow steps and download toolbars etc.. DODGY and could be malicious content once again... typical and why would you risk it?

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Those are some of the main scams and hoaxes on Facebook. Below are some good sites to check out if you are ever unsure about a page or link on facebook! Always be cautious on facebook. If only facebook would start verifying pages like twitter has started to do with its celebrity pages.. Facebook seem very slow when it comes to reporting dodgy content and I wonder how many people have to report exactly before something is removed.. It's never too long before another similar page is created.

There are a lot of dodgy advertising in the right hand advertisement pane on facebook too from companies that will rip you off.. I suggest - DON'T CLICK the majority of them.

Also make sure that when you click a link on a facebook page and then it asks you to log in again check that the top of the page is not a phishing link and still says http://www.facebook.com/

Many web browsers seem to pick up on this though these days & you will get a red screen and warning..

Photo example of a phishing link on facebook:

 when you re-enter your login details it will steal your facebook details.. It's a very similar link to facebook! 

Notice there is no forward slash ( /  ) after http://www.facebook.com

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RELATED LINKS:

Hoax Slayer

Facebook Gift Card Scams

5 Facebook Scams you should be aware of