Another day, another online scam on social media.
A Facebook post appeared early Wednesday afternoon bearing the awful news that a Mishawaka man was one of several people killed in a fatal crash on an unnamed highway. Only there was no such crash, and the man, Tribune reporter Greg Swiercz, was alive and well.
Facebook fraud: There’s a viral post about a missing autistic child in Mishawaka. It’s a scam
A Tribune editor had spoken with Swiercz earlier Wednesday and alerted him his fake death was being used on the platform, with the message, “i’m gonna miss him so much … #.”
The person who ostensibly shared the post was Swiercz’s high school classmate, who could well have had his account infected by clicking on the link on another post. Once infected, an account can post the scam itself, tagging one or more of your friends.
Swiercz reported the post to Facebook as a scam, and the platform’s support said it would investigate and get back to him, which it had not done by later Wednesday afternoon.
The best course of action, which has become often-repeated conventional wisdom by now, is to not click links you aren’t familiar with. Further clues could be gleaned from the web address pointed to by the link not appearing to be any legitimate news source, and the text of the link not offering any detail about when the crash happened or on what highway it occurred.
No, your Facebook friend wasn’t killed in a car crash. It’s a scam. #Facebook #friend #wasnt #killed #car #crash #scam
Source Link: https://www.southbendtribune.com/story/news/local/2024/07/17/no-your-facebook-friend-wasnt-killed-in-a-car-crash-its-a-scam/74444009007/
No, your Facebook friend wasn’t killed in a car crash. It’s a scam.
Another day, another online scam on soci… – BLOGGER – WP1, car, Crash, Facebook, friend, killed, scam, Wasnt
