Clever Facebook scam lets hackers steal £1million a MONTH – how to avoid falling for it
A NEW Facebook scam reportedly enables hackers to steal $1.6million from regular users of the social network.
The scam involves users voluntarily sending money to a Facebook friend after noticing they have received that money in their PayPal account.
However, the money the victims see in their PayPal accounts is removed after a few days.
It turns out the Facebook 'friend' asking for money is actually a hacker who has gained access to an account and messaged people until they found someone who would participate.
The scam takes advantage of PayPal's chargeback feature which can reverse a transaction.
It can also involve three victims, which are the person with the hacked Facebook, the person being asked for money and even a hacked PayPal account.
It did reveal that this scam was being taken advantage of by blackhat hackers.
These are criminals who hack with malicious intent.
Around 15-30 are currently said to be running this scheme daily.
They are thought to make $2,400 (£1930) per day.
To avoid falling prey to a scam like this, CyberNews recommends that you add Google Authenticator to your Facebook account.
This implements two step verification.
Be wary of anyone asking you for money via Facebook and if they're you're friend then ask them to call you about it.
It's also recommended to keep your PayPal account empty and link to a virtual card.
Tips to prevent identity theft
Sometimes these things are out of your control but there are useful measures you can take to try and protect yourself...
- Have passwords on all your digital devices
- Try and have different passwords for each account and device and change them every so often
- Avoid clicking on suspicious links in emails or texts
- Never give out personal information without triple checking you're giving it to the person you intended
- Limit the number of credit or debit cards you carry at any one time
- Don't carry around things like your Social Security card or National Insurance number unless you have to
In other news, Instagram now lets anyone raise money for charities using Live streaming or Stories.
Facebook Messenger Rooms let you create 50-person video calls.
And, a severe flaw in Apple's iPhone software may have left millions of users at risk of having their emails hacked.
Have you noticed any online scams recently? Let us know in the comments...
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