Watch Out for Social Media Scams and Protect Your Data
Watch Out for Social Media Scams and Protect Your Data Javascript must be enabled to use this site. Please enable Javascript in your browser and try again. × Search search POPULAR SEARCHES SUGGESTED LINKS Join AARP for just $9 per year when you sign up for a 5-year term. Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. Leaving AARP.org Website You are now leaving AARP.org and going to a website that is not operated by AARP. A different privacy policy and terms of service will apply. Close
Crooks are also customizing social media cons for the . They post bogus ads for COVID-19 testing or treatment, or and, disguised as your actual friends or relatives, send out private messages with purported links to urgent health information or pandemic "relief grants." Other scams are tailored to exploit how we use social media. For example: • . We’ve become so used to seeing what our favorite stars are up to on social media that it might seem natural for them to get in touch to , offer backstage passes or profess their gratitude personally. It’s not. Social networks swarm with impersonator accounts set up to hoax or steal from fans. Flowers & Gifts 25% off sitewide and 30% off select items See more Flowers & Gifts offers > • “Is that you in this photo/video?” If you get a message like this with a link to purported online evidence of embarrassing behavior, repress your curiosity and hit “delete.” Clicking the link takes you to a site that mimics one of the popular social networks and prompts you to log in, a ploy for hackers to get your credentials and access your account. • Missing persons. The FBI has about a particularly vicious social media scam: Criminals contact people who post information about missing family members and , claiming to have abducted the loved one and demanding ransom payments.
As you connect digitally with friends and family, take these steps to help protect your online identity.
Social Media Scams
Older Americans are increasingly active on social media, especially Facebook, which is used by nearly three-quarters of U.S. adults ages 50 to 64 and half of those age 65 and over, according to from the Pew Research Center. But be careful where you click: Fraud is prevalent on popular social networks like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, and getting more so. Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) received more than 95,000 complaints in 2021 about scams that originated with social media ads, posts or messages, a six-fold increase since 2019. Those incidents cost consumers some $770 million, accounting for a quarter of fraud losses reported to the FTC in 2021 and making social media the most profitable way for scammers to reach consumers, the agency said in a . Many of these cons simply put a social media spin on older online frauds. , and (often involving ) are rife on social networks, according to the FTC. Your social feeds might also be full of fake corporate giveaways, nonexistent , supposed winnings and ads for , intended to get you to send money or click on malware-loaded links.Crooks are also customizing social media cons for the . They post bogus ads for COVID-19 testing or treatment, or and, disguised as your actual friends or relatives, send out private messages with purported links to urgent health information or pandemic "relief grants." Other scams are tailored to exploit how we use social media. For example: • . We’ve become so used to seeing what our favorite stars are up to on social media that it might seem natural for them to get in touch to , offer backstage passes or profess their gratitude personally. It’s not. Social networks swarm with impersonator accounts set up to hoax or steal from fans. Flowers & Gifts 25% off sitewide and 30% off select items See more Flowers & Gifts offers > • “Is that you in this photo/video?” If you get a message like this with a link to purported online evidence of embarrassing behavior, repress your curiosity and hit “delete.” Clicking the link takes you to a site that mimics one of the popular social networks and prompts you to log in, a ploy for hackers to get your credentials and access your account. • Missing persons. The FBI has about a particularly vicious social media scam: Criminals contact people who post information about missing family members and , claiming to have abducted the loved one and demanding ransom payments.
As you connect digitally with friends and family, take these steps to help protect your online identity.