Scammers Are Using This Hot New Tactic To Hack Into Your Facebook Profile
Be wary of whose friend request you accept on Facebook.
By Sadho Ram — 02 May 2017, 02:44 AM
There's a hot new Facebook scam that's doing the rounds
It involves scammers trying to hack into your account by using a fake account of someone you know by impersonating them. The scammers use a fairly simple tactic.
They create a fake profile of one of your friends, using their photos which they might have stolen from the original profile.
They then send you a friend request using the fake profile and once you accept the request, the scammer then makes an excuse that they lost their phone and need to get into their account which has been hacked or that they have been logged out of it.
Following which, depending on whether you have fallen for the excuse and provided them with your mobile number, they send you a code via Facebook.
They claim that this code will help them log back into their account, which in reality enables the scammer to actually hack into your Facebook account.
It's this simplicity of this tactic that makes unsuspecting people fall for it.
Recently, Facebook user Kelvyn Yeang came across this scam, when he received a message from one of his friends
The friend had messaged Kelvyn, asking him for his phone number.
While Kelvyn shared his number, he soon realised something was wrong. So when the person asked Kelvyn for the four-digit code he was sent, he decided to verify the identity of the person. Kelvyn asked the friend for his shop's and brother's name.
Screenshot of the conversation Kelvyn had with the scammer, which he provided to SAYS for the story.
Image via Kelvyn YeangSpeaking to SAYS, Kelvyn said that while he was trying to verify the identity of the person, he was also texting the brother of the friend the person was impersonating
The thing was, Kelvyn had figured out that this person wasn't his friend as the friend's English was way better than the person himself, Kelvyn told us.
"When he knew I was on his trail, he ignored me. I just blocked him right after," Kelvyn revealed to SAYS about the scammer.
Of course, Kelvyn isn't the only person who encountered this hot new scam. There's another Facebook user who took to his profile to warn others about the same scam:
What you can do to not fall for this hot new Facebook scam
First thing's first, never ever share your phone number.
Hide your friends list from public view on Facebook. Basically, set it to private.
Practice caution when accepting a friend request from people you don't know. Because once they can see your profile, they'll have access to everything you post.
Most importantly, be on the lookout for duplicate friend requests. If a second profile pops up with a friend or family members name on it, make sure to verify.
One easy way to find out if a profile is fake:
Before you accept a friend request from a stranger, check out their profile. A recently created profile with little or no posts or other information may be a fake.
And under no circumstance, wire money, provide debit or credit card numbers, or prepaid debit card identification numbers to anyone on Facebook.