Earlier, social media was about meeting new people, making new friends, and sharing our personal life through posts. But, now it’s more than this, and it is because of excessive attention given to these platforms. With people spending around 2 hours and 27 minutes daily, scammers have devised ways to trick people into paying them money. They try to take advantage of people’s attention and personal information on these platforms and create fake accounts and pages to provide fake services or products at unrealistic prices which allures people into buying them. It is a straightforward example of social media scams.
As highlighted at many marketing and retail conferences, we will discuss common strategies scammers adopt to mislead people into giving them their personal or financial data. Let us learn about social media scams and how scammers are tricking people into falling into their false traps, as shared at the Marketing 2.0 Conference.
Common Social Media Scams, Highlighted At Marketing 2.0 Conference
Shopping Scams
With the growing trend of online shopping, hundreds of ads run on social media platforms that direct users to other websites that appear to be familiar but are actually just fake copies of legitimate websites. In this, scammers allure the audience with exciting offers or deals within a limited period, which motivates the users to pay for them immediately. Once they make a payment, the account details and money are with the scammers, who can send a counterfeit product or no product to the user. The customer cannot contact the website holders as they have incorrect numbers or email ids on the website.
Romance Scams.
Scammers also use social media to connect with people, exchange thoughts and interests, and basically get familiar with the victims. Once they become good friends or more, they try asking for a small amount of money for some urgency. As the other person trusts this scammer, they pay them the asked money as a token of their friendship, and the scammers run away with it. After that, the victim cannot contact the scammer as they don’t pick up the calls or reply to messages, thus confirming that everything was just a part of the scam! Various digital marketing conferences share that it was the most reported scam during the pandemic, which not only affected individuals’ finances but also emotionally damaged them.
Travel Scams
Two types of travel scams were gaining popularity during COVID-19, as discussed at various marketing and retail conferences. One where the scammers offer appealing travel insurance to the people, and when the real-time arrives, they step back and don’t deliver the promised returns. Another travel scam is where scammers create travel accounts, upload attractive travel pictures, and offer complimentary travel to the audience. All it needs is for the people to fill up the survey, which is just a trick of scammers to get your personal information or send malicious software to your system.
Disaster-Relief Scams
When any disaster takes place in any part of the world, you can witness ads asking for donations to the charities that will send your money to the genuine victims. Instead, the scammers end up getting your account details and trying to get more money from your accounts. There have been many cases registered against such fake charitable. Before making any donation, one can check the authenticity and credibility of the charity.
Lottery Scams
Scammers get their fake ads posted on social media congratulating them for winning a certain gift voucher or cards for popular shopping brands or food outlets or even some cash prizes. Once the victim clicks on them, they get redirected to a different website that asks for their personal information and account details to send the money. In contrast, they take away the money from the victims who fail to identify this scam. People usually love receiving free goodies or money, what they forget is no lottery wins happen if you haven’t entered one.
Grandparent Scams
Grandparent scams also known as grandchild scams are the kind of scams that target older adults. The scammer usually calls a senior person and asks for a certain amount of money for urgency by portraying themselves as their grandchild. By this, they typically try to take advantage of the person’s loneliness and exploit it for their benefit. They will have all the information about them, even the nicknames, to make it believable for the victims. The victims get all emotional and agree to send them the money without any verification or consultation from any other family member as directed by the scammer.
Quick Tips To Deal With Social Media Scams, Suggested At Marketing 2.0 Conference
- Limit the visibility of your online posts, as scammers usually look for accounts that have open access. All the social media platforms are collecting your information, so make sure to add specific restrictions before using them freely.
- Always verify the accounts where you are thinking of sharing your details, whether for shopping, traveling, or helping a charity. Stay alert and cautious is one of the most highlighted pieces of advice at most marketing and retail conferences.
- Before trusting and helping your online friends, make sure that they are reliable enough. Know them well before investing in them. Notice their pattern, are they hurrying up things, saying something that seems to be unbelievable, read and then decide what you have to do next.
- Please don’t fall for fake calls that claim to be your relative or grandchild unless you have verified it. Marketers at marketing and retail conferences always emphasize cross-checking when things are online.
Even though we have seen various advantages of social media platforms, these scams are something one needs to be cautious of. Taking a few safety measures on the world wide web will go a long way in keeping you safe. One can always explore more about other types of online scams and preventions by visiting digital marketing conferences like the Marketing 2.0 Conference, which invites renowned thought leaders of the marketing and advertising world to share their experiences and knowledge on the prevailing industrial trends.
