Do not worry; your page has not been reported.
We are writing to alert you about a Facebook scam that is on the rise, although it is not new. It is the “Facebook Security” scam. A supposedly official Facebook page informs you that your account has been reported and will be canceled because you violated the social network rules. Immediately after, in the message, you must perform a series of actions to prevent it, such as clicking a link. That will make you lose your profile or even worse!
How the “Facebook Security” scam works.
The methodology used by this Facebook scam is as follows. You receive a notification by direct mention in a post on a page you manage. When you access the notice, you see it comes from “Facebook Security,” which informs you that someone has reported your page and will be closed. You can get more information through a link.
That page is not from Facebook but a hacker trying to take advantage. If you visit the link, which is sometimes linked to content on the social network, you will see that a new link is offered to “solve” the incident. It is usually camouflaged, using a shortener, so that you can not see the destination URL.
That is where, through phishing techniques using a simulated page, you would start to have problems if you choose to “verify” your account since you would be providing your Facebook login details to the hackers.
Why is the “Facebook Security” hoax dangerous?
This scam is not new, but now and then, hackers find new ways to try to trick us. Sometimes, these attempts are very sophisticated and can scare even advanced users. In other situations, the trick is obvious, and it is easy to see that something is not what it seems, but don’t ever trust it!
In this particular case, the “Facebook Security” scam is especially dangerous for two reasons:
- It targets pages, not direct users. In other words, in many cases, community managers and administrators will take the initial scare.
- Since the pages are often not administered by specialized personnel, inexperienced users may fall into the trap. This is especially true if they fear that their client’s or employer’s page will suffer this “sanction” and they themselves will suffer the subsequent consequences.
Be assured that if these types of scams continue to exist, it is because hackers target a vast number of users. They know that many will not know enough about the scam – it’s a matter of probabilities!
How to identify the “Facebook Security” scam
It’s all a matter of taking a good look if something like what we are telling you happens to you. First of all, don’t be hasty. If at some point you receive a notification similar to what we are talking about here, study well all its elements: who it comes from, what the message of the mention is like, what internal Facebook page it takes you to, etc.
Paying attention to these points, you will surely realize that something is not what it seems. Common cases? The page it takes you to has a slightly strange profile or header image (blurred, with colors different from those of Facebook), the message of the mention has spelling mistakes, characters used in the name of the page, and lousy header image, which looks blurred, distorted, false data included in that same image or incorrect location (to confuse) of the Facebook/Meta verified page logo.
How to deal with the “Facebook Security” hoax
If you encounter a situation like this and think it may be a fake page, the procedure is simple: report it to Facebook. They will close it themselves. If it does not violate any rule, they will leave it as it is. In case of doubt, Facebook will contact the administrators to request the appropriate information.
To do this, go to the page you want to report and, in the lower right corner of the header image, click on the “Report page” option. Then select “Fraud/Phishing” in the new window. After that, “Send to Facebook for review”.
With this, the issue will be in the hands of the platform’s experts, and you will be informed of the progress of the report through your profile and/or the email you have linked, even allowing you at the end of the incident to evaluate the management and send the appropriate comments.
Here it is if you have never encountered the “Facebook Security” scam. If you know someone who has suffered its consequences, warn your acquaintances about these scams. If you think it could happen to someone close to you, share this article with your friends.
The Yucatan Times
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