Facebook is a powerful social networking site that is used by millions of people all around the world.  If you have not heard of it; its like myspace.  Over 3 million messages are exchanged daily through Facebook.  The possibilities for businesses are endless when it comes to this popular social networking site.  However, you should be cautious of a couple scams that are infecting Facebooks network.

Scam 1:  A Friend In Need

Here is a hypothetical situation; a scammer will pose as your friend and tell you a long and over exaggerated story about an accident or misfortune incident that he/she has been victim too.  Another form of this scam is that they hijack your friends account and tell you the same story and a place to send money to.   It is usually through Western Union. The best thing to do is contact your friend via phone or through an e-mail.  Never give money with Western Union, Money Gram, T/T or any other unsecure third partys site.

Scam 2:  Fishing/Trojan Scam

This type of scam sends you a message via email and then forwards you to a site where you can download software.  It might be enticing to download this software, but please avoid it.   This software then releases a Trojan, which allows the scammer to gather valuable information from your computer.

Scam 3: Viral Wall Past Scam

This scam manipulates you into thinking your friend has left a message on your wall such as; you realize that your personal information is on this site?  There would then be a link under it.  I have seen a variety of these.  The main idea is the scammer makes it so enticing that you are forced to click on it.  However, Facebook does warn you to never click on links that can take you outside of their social networking site.  Once you click on the link it steals your personal information on your computer.  Furthermore, the scammer can view what you are typing to your friends.

However, Facebook can be fun.  Just make sure you stay safe on Facebook and you should be fine.  Please let me know if you have heard of any other scams involving Facebook or any of the other popular social networking sites.

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