Facebook Scams Spreading Like Wildfire

Facebook Scams Flourishing

Presently three specific Facebook Scams are flourishing and even smart people are falling prey to it. There’s a whimsical deal such as you purchase a $10 holiday gift and sent to one person and you get up to 36 gifts back in return. No one would want to miss out on such types of gifts.

This generous offer has come up, courtesy of something known as the `secret sisters gift exchange’. There seems to be similar post doing the round which is focused on a book exchange for kids, though the basic idea seems the same. The instructions provide details of a classic two-deep pyramid scheme wherein you start by sending a gift to the first secret sister and thereafter you move the second secret sister to the first place. You send the instructions to six other females and the process goes on and on.

 Towards the end, you are promised gifts in a two weeks’ time. You need to stop right there since with each level, more people are needed to keep the thing going. By the time you tend to hit the 11th position, the whole population of the US will have to participate in order to make it work.

Pyramid Schemes - Illegal

At the fourth or the fifth position, the odds of getting a single gift in return after even sending one seems bleak.Moreover, the pyramid schemes are illegal and one may end up being fined or imprisoned since the federal government and several states as per the laws are against these types of schemes.

In order to avoid this type of scam one should be aware that anyone offering large return on any investment would be duping you. You should bear in mind that one cannot get something for nothing even if the idea sounds appealing. Should a person receive a message from a friend on Facebook stating that they have won $30,000 lottery on Facebook, they need to be careful and alert.

If a friend informs that they have won some money and you too can win the same, the best thing to be done is to call or email the person and get the facts from them. Avoid sending money to someone promising to get money or a prize back. This is known as `advanced fee’ scam which never ends well. One should avoid wiring money to anyone since once the money is wired; there is no hope of getting it back.

Hackers Use Friend’s Facebook to Dupe

A similar incident had occurred to a woman in Nevada and to several others around the country. In the case of Nevada, a person by the name Theresa Paddock contacted a woman to inform her that she had won the lottery and to get hold of her money she had to wire $150 for insurance coverage together with other fees.

The woman did so but did not get her winning amount. On the contrary an unknown man began contacting her, trying to extract more money. The same scam occurred in Indiana to a woman who in this case wiredan amount of $850 and was then asked to send more to get an even bigger prize. The hackers had taken over her friends’ Facebook page and utilised their relationship in order to dupe her. The victims in both the cases will, in no way tend to get their money back.