Detect Internet fraudsters and fake profiles on Facebook and Marketplace
Amanda Prior-Grissinger is an administrator for dozens of local Facebook groups. She identifies and blocks scammers who use fake profiles to pose as locals.
Facebook has become one of the largest online marketplaces for finding deals on products nearby, but it is also rife with scammers looking for their next scam.
Scammers are “manipulative” and will read details from public Facebook posts, Camp said. In a special seminar, she advises retirees never to give out their birthday to anyone else.
“Sometimes your birthday is your child’s bank password,” said L. Jean Camp, a professor of computer science and computer engineering at Indiana University.
Thomas Holt, a professor in the criminal justice department at Michigan State University, cautions shoppers to be wary of stock images in listings when making online purchases, and that people should be sure to take their own photos when listing items.
Buyers should be cautious when people ask to move communications away from the original platform, as this can increase the risk of fraud, Holt said.
Divya Ramjee, an assistant professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology and a researcher at the ESL Global Cybersecurity Institute, said people should be “extremely cautious” when sending money or personal information to other people online. Meeting in a public place and exchanging cash or making a secure transaction are good tactics to avoid online fraud, she said.
In general, people on social media should be careful about what they post online, as scammers can exploit publicly shared personal information over time, Ramjee said.
What are common scam posts?
Amanda Prior-Grissinger, an administrator or moderator in more than two dozen local Facebook groups, warns that fraudulent posts often “seem too good to be true” – and they are.
Common scam posts include offers to clean vents, garage repairs, houses for rent at unrealistic prices, very well-paying work-from-home jobs, and free food.
And if someone deactivates the comment function on the post, that is also a warning signal. This can happen if Prior-Grissinger or another Facebook user suspects that the post could be a scam.
How Facebook administrators can protect group members from scammers
Prior-Grissinger has also developed a multi-page document to help group leaders reduce the risk of potential fraudsters.
Other administrators can take steps to protect the groups themselves. Prior-Grissinger suggests keeping groups private and including basic screening questions, such as the state capital or favorite neighborhood coffee shop. This way, suspicious accounts from people who aren’t from the area can be quickly identified.
Prior-Grissinger also examines profiles, looking for red flags such as a small number of friends, a recent account activation date and few profile photos. Some people are more private than others, she acknowledges, but she can look for other warning signs of a fake profile.
Sometimes she explores the locations of other profiles liking and commenting on photos and notices suspicious patterns. She also often leaves a “haha” reaction on public profile photos to flag the account as suspicious to other group admins and Facebook users.
The biographical field can also contain some potential red flags. Scammers often claim to work at Facebook, be self-employed or an entrepreneur.
