Scambuster: Sharing this post could lead scammers to you
A scam that’s resurfacing has some a little confused. It’s a scam you’ll find on Facebook that many of your friends may have shared. But, it could lead the scammers straight to you.
A lot of people’s favorite thing to do on Facebook is to share posts. One post that is going around warns that Facebook may not be a free service for much longer, but it says you’ll be exempt from any charges by sharing the post.
“And this is like a lot of scams we see, it’s an old scam, it dates back to 2009. It wasn’t true then and it’s not true now,” says Sergeant Joe Mahoney with the Mobile County Sherriff’s Office in Alabama.
It’s just another way for thieves to get personal information, but how can sharing a post make us vulnerable to scammers?
“Have you ever shared a post? And you see where people like or react to it. You can click on that person and go to their information,” says Kristina Barrett with the Computer Crew.
It’s that information we so willingly put on our Facebook profiles that brings us one step closer to the scammers.
“It can give them ammunition for other scams, it can give them direct access to you,” said Barrett.
“It gives scammers an opportunity to grab that information and pose as you,” said Mahoney.
Bottom line, Facebook will always be free, don’t share the post if you see it, and limit the amount of personal information you have on Facebook like your full birthday, telephone number and address.