The Truth About Facebook Email Scams

Facebook email scams are becoming increasingly more common today. The sudden increase in phony emails by spammers and scammers is not be unconnected with the rising number of Facebook users around the World. In spite of this, I was still quite surprised to have received two of such emails in one week! It does seem like the perpetrators of this scam are becoming more sophisticated as the emails appeared to be quite convincing judging by their low standards. The “From:” fields were perfectly spoofed to include “Facebook.com”, “Your Facebook Team” and “Facebook Assistance, while the subject read “Facebook Password Reset Confirmation NR.15831 and  Facebook Password Reset Confirmation! Customer Support“ respectively. However, the messages must have been sent through some automated e-mail spamming system as they were not addressed directly to me. Unfortunately, many Facebook users may have already fallen victim of some of these malicious attacks however, the information provided in this article could still be very valuable to other Facebook users who are yet to come across these emails.

How to Detect Facebook Scam Emails

Detecting Facebook scams is quite similar to detecting other similar scams online (Read How to Detect Yahoo Fraud) and protecting oneself from future malicious attacks. The first thing users should note is that no one is exempt from receiving suspicious emails and notifications. In fact, there is currently a notice on Facebook Help Centre warning against these suspicious messages. Facebook scam emails can be easily detected by their characteristics. Please take note of the following.

• Messages are usually urgent.
• They include a request to update your personal information or supply new personal information.
• Contain misspellings or use bad grammar.
• Emails usually have attachments or links which you are always asked to open. It has been proven that most of these links and attachments contain trojans, viruses and unsuspecting readers can be easily made part of a botnet (Read about botnet attacks here).

How to Protect Yourself Against Facebook Scam Attacks

The most important point to always remember here is that Facebook will NEVER send you a password as an attachment. Users who keep this important point in mind are more unlikely to fall victim of Facebook scam attacks. In addition, the following are other ways that Facebook users can help protecting themselves against these attacks:

• Do not read or click on suspicious emails.
• However, if you happen to click on a suspicious email, do not download any attachment or click on any links.
• Delete all suspicious emails immediately from your inbox and warn others. For example,  you can warn your friends by using the “Bookmark and Share” link at the end of this article.
• Never give your password away to anyone, under any circumstances (Read how to create a complex password that cannot be easily guessed).
• Ensure that all your security programs are active and up-to-date.

How to Contact Facebook

Facebook are always happy to hear from users especially on security-related issues. To contact Facebook, click on “Help Centre” at the bottom of your page and select the appropriate contact form or answer to your question from the list of topics in the Help page.

Talking Point

Have you ever been a victim of a Facebook scam? You can share your experiences with our readers by leaving a comment below.