Want An iPhone 8? Click This Fake Page And Become A Victim Of A Scam
By: Jim Stickley and Tina Davis
November 29, 2018
Facebook is in the cyber security news again. Well, to be honest it’s not likely departing any time soon. However, in this instance, it was on the victim end of a scam…sort of. Cybercriminals used the social media site in a new spoofing scam claiming an iPhone 8 will be given away. Posts about this spread throughout Facebook like a wildfire, if only users liked and shared the “official” iPhone 8 page.
Spoofing is not new. This happens when scammers create webpages, or Facebook pages for that matter, that look identical, or nearly identical to actual company pages. They hope the visitors to their fake sites won’t notice and will enter in personal information, such as their online banking credentials, payment card information, or other details that are useful for fraud and/or identity theft. And while spoofing is old hat, this iPhone 8 giveaway scam is new. Once the fake page is liked, users are asked to follow some links and enter in Facebook login credentials and potentially other information you’d probably rather not part with.
You can do a quick check on links to see where they are going by hovering the mouse pointer over them. If they don’t seem to be going to the right spot (Apple in this case), it could very well be a scam. If you’re using a mobile or touchscreen device, you can hold your finger over the link for an extended time to bring up the entire link address.
Another tip for making sure sites are “official” ones in social media is to look for the verified indicators. For Twitter and Instagram, it’s a blue checkmark, for instance. In Facebook, it is also a blue checkmark, but the unofficial pages may say “unofficial” page on them as well. It isn’t possible to pay for the verification, so you can feel comfortable trusting it when it shows up. If it doesn’t, think twice about being on that page or profile.
There are valid contests out there. Just make sure you feel comfortable trusting the source. Walmart and other large retailers are often used in scams. So make sure you verify a giveaway or contest is real before sharing it or sending it on to your contacts.