July 28, 2010
Advance Fee Scam on Facebook
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Advance Fee Scam on Facebook
A lot of users of the social networking site Facebook are receiving an email that claims that they have won a large sum of money in the Face Book 2010 promotion.The message claims that the owner of the Facebook account has won $50,000 in the "Face Book 2010 promotion". You are instructed to contact the "Payment Department" immediately by an email address [that is included in the email] in order to claim the prize money.
If you repond you will be asked to send a fee to cover the cost of the transfer of the prize money. Like all the advance fee scams, the person offered the sum of money [whether it is a prize, inheritance, assistance to get money out of a country etc] is required to pay some money first before they supposidly receive their money.
If money is sent to 'claim the prize money', there will be further requests for money to cover other unforseen problems or processes. The requests will continue until the victim runs out of money, or realizes it is a scam.
Some Facebook users have also been asked for some personal information as proof that they are who they say they are. This is designed to allow the scammers to steal the victim's identity.
The advance fee scams are designed to appeal to greed or the people who want something for nothing.
Over the years people have become wary of the advance fee scam, made famous by the Nigerians, and are now cautious of receiving emails requesting help to get millions of dollars out of an African country in return for a share of the money.
As a result, the scammers have invented new ways of serving up the advance fee scam, and are now using social networking sites as an effective way of reaching lots of people.
Remember to be very wary of messages that claim that you have won money or prizes in a promotion or lottery that you have never entered.
If you have been a victim of this type of scam or any other Cyber crime, you can report it to the IC3 website at: www.IC3.gov. The IC3 complaint database links complaints for potential referral to the appropriate law enforcement agency for case consideration. Complaint information is also used to identity emerging trends and patterns.
Remember - always watch for scams!
Steve