Small Town Tech, Inc.
  • Home
  • Services
  • Online Store
  • Rates
  • Pro+Tech
    • Free Trial
  • Partner Client
    • Backup Solutions
Chat
Picture
Easy to understand and relevant technology articles

Categories

All
Backup
Business
Facebook
Guides
Hardware
Online Security
Safety
Windows

Archives

November 2021
October 2021
September 2021
August 2021
July 2021
June 2021
May 2021
April 2021

How to stay safe from scams & malware on facebook

9/13/2021

Comments

 
Picture
At last count, Facebook has clocked up over 2.7 billion users, which makes the platform more attractive than ever for scammers and hackers. While you may be logging in to share your latest family photos or catch up with friends, the chances of accidentally triggering a scam or malware are increasing daily. Here’s how to stay safe on Facebook and stop the spread.
Look out for freebies and surveys
Everybody loves a freebie and for the most part the competition posts on Facebook are legitimate. On the flip side though, when you see a giveaway for vouchers from a mega-store, alarm bells should ring. ‘Do this quick survey and we’ll send you a $50 Amazon Voucher!’ - it’s too good to be true. Even one click can take you on a messy journey through the underbelly of the web, picking up trackers and malware at every stop and at the end, you’re asked to share the post so your friends can get a voucher too...except nobody ever gets the reward.
Check your permissions with games and quizzes
Whenever you access a new game or quiz, you’ll need to give permissions for it to access your Facebook profile. Most people click the okay button without any thought, but if you review the permissions you’re giving, you’ll often find they’re asking for a massive amount of personal data; public profile, friend list, email address, birthday and newsfeed. Do they really need ALL this information? Sometimes the shakedown is from necessity, but sometimes the apps are preparing to launch attacks against you both on and off Facebook. For example, when you call your bank they ask certain questions like your full name, birthday and maybe which high school you went to. All that information is in your Facebook profile and now shared with your permission.
Don’t friend people you don’t know
Having lots of friends is always nice, but that friend accept could end up costing you. It might be someone pretending to know you, or a picture of a pretty girl to entice men (and vice versa). Once you friend them, they get access to everything your friends can see. In this case, it’s more than the risk of someone knowing your personal data, you’ve just given them intimate access to your life. It’s exactly how romance scams start, and there are even cases where the victim finds photos of their children circulating the internet.
If it’s weird, forget it
It doesn’t happen very often, but hackers find ways to take advantage of flaws in Facebook. A common hack that keeps popping up in various forms is to embed malware in a link. The virus then infects your machine and contacts all your friends with an enticing message, like asking whether a picture is of them. When they click to view the picture, the virus catches them and their friend list, and so on. Facebook is pretty good at staying on top of these flaws, but they need time to fix it. Just like if you got a weird email with an attachment from a friend, use that same level of scrutiny in your Facebook and don’t open messages or links that seem out of place.

Set up two-factor authentication
It might seems unnecessary right now, since you already have a password protecting your account it is extremely important to have a two-factor authentication set up. It only takes few minutes to do but It will save you a lot of time later on and might even save you your whole Facebook account.


Comments
    More Pro+Tips

    Pro+Tips

    We aim to provide helpful and easy to understand tech articles. 

    Some article relate to products that we sell, so we may link to products or services that we offer.

    Good advice is good advice whether you purchase our products or a competitors.
    ​Our main goal for Pro+Tips is to give you advice and best practices.


    Categories

    All
    Backup
    Business
    Facebook
    Guides
    Hardware
    Online Security
    Safety
    Windows

    Archives

    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021

Help & Support

 218-240-8802
304 3rd Street
​International Falls, MN 56649

Ticket Status

Open Monday through Friday 9AM-5PM

Closed Saturday and Sunday

Services

Pro+Tech
Rates
Equipment Rental

Company

About
Careers
Partners
Terms
Privacy
Small Town Tech Inc
Protech Complete Technology Care
  • Home
  • Services
  • Online Store
  • Rates
  • Pro+Tech
    • Free Trial
  • Partner Client
    • Backup Solutions