BBB Warns Of Facebook Scams

The Better Business Bureau is warning of a scam that is going around on Facebook.

Scammers will publish a post asking users to share the post to help find a lost child or look for the owner of a lost pet that was found, in both instances a photo will be
shown, made to tug at the viewers heartstrings.

Where the scam comes in though is there is no lost child or pet.

After a short period of time and thousands of shares, the original poster will change the post to a shady business opportunity, or a product for sale.

The idea behind the scam is now the contacts of the person that shared the post see this and since it came from a trusted source, their friend, they think it is a legitimate
post and may be lured to sign up or divulge personal information.

Its the classic example of bait and switch.

The better business Bureau says there are ways to check the validity of these posts.

See when the poster created their account. These types of posts usually come from fake accounts that were just made, likely just to post the scam.

Also check to see if it is a business creating the post. This is a good indicator that the post will be switched to a product this business is offering.

Another good indicator is if the post doesn’t give an exact location. This allows people to share over a larger geographical area thinking it is local.

And finally see if comments are turned off in the post. Once people catch on its a scam they will want to post to warn others so the original poster turns off commenting to avoid this from happening.