There are various types of scams appearing on social media, which encourage you either to send funds to certain individuals with a promise of much greater returns, or attempt to trick you in buying digital assets.
Here are some of the most typical social media scams to be aware of:
- Impersonation
Impersonation is when a fake account of a famous individual or a company is created on social media and then used to scam other social media users. The aim is to receive funds from other users by promising them much greater benefits in return.
- Fake ads/news
Various channels, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and many others, are sometimes used to promote fake ads/news, which advertise investments and great profit opportunities, as well as other “too good to be true” earning possibilities. In some of these fake ads/news there are "quotes" from famous people (fake ones, of course) which promote the opportunity described in the ad/news.
The links provided in the ads/news sometimes lead to fake or hazardous website pages, which are used to obtain your personal or financial information (phishing) and requesting that you send your funds to someone else for an even great return.