Description: Scammers have been worming their way into giant social media networks to trick people into giving over their personal and financial information

Source: CNN Money

Date: April 22, 2016

1. Fake customer service accounts on Twitter: Online criminals set up fake customer service accounts to phish for bank login and password information and other sensitive data.

2. Fake comments on popular posts: Fraudsters like to take advantage of that large audience by adding their own comments with links to other buzzy headlines that lead to credit card phishing scams.

3. Fake live-stream videos: Links that lead to a fake website that asks for personal information in order to start the video, which very often doesn’t exist.

4. Fake online discounts: Fake online discounts work similarly to fake customer service accounts. Schemers will set up social media accounts that look like legit businesses, then pretend to offer a real promotion.

5. Fake online surveys and contests: These tactics have been around for years and are designed to get answers to personal questions that fraudsters can mine and sell later. But criminals embed them into social media posts that often look legit because there’s a normal looking profile picture and link, thanks to URL shorteners.

Questions for discussion:

1. Have you ever been the victim of an online scam/fraud?
2. What are ways to prevent becoming a victim of online fraud?