Social media can be quite useful. It allows you to connect with others wherever they might be. It lets you stay up on the news. It can provide hours of entertainment. There is a downside to social media, however. One of the biggest problems is scams. Scams are pretty much everywhere on the internet, and when they appear on social media, they can be especially difficult to recognize. That is why you have to be proactive and make sure you know how to recognize common scams.
Avast explains that most of the common scams these days are those trying to harvest your personal information. They do not necessarily involve money directly like scams of the past. They may ask for information that seems minor to you and something you may willingly give, but the underlying motive is to grab your information and use it for nefarious purposes. Often such data mining is the first step in identity theft.
One common technique is someone pretending to be someone you know. They might start a new social media account or hack into the real account and start using it. They can get away with a lot doing this because you think it is someone you know. Another common approach is a quiz where you provide answers to seemingly fun questions. However, these answers reveal quite a bit about you and could be used by hackers to figure out your passwords, passcodes or other information needed to access secure accounts.
Always stay vigilant. Make sure to verify every person and every website you come across. Do not become a victim of these social media scams. This information is for education and is not legal advice.
