I keep seeing them crop up on my wall. The Facebook Privacy notice. The “so-and-so is giving away a Maserati to a random user.” OMG you won’t believe this shocking video. and on and on.
These hoaxes are designed for one purpose only: No good.
Below I list some of the most common hoaxes and scams that are prevalent on Facebook. If we could just get people to stop sharing these, we’d be cutting out a lot of clutter and saving some folks a lot of hassle.
1) The Facebook Privacy hoax.
By this statement I give notice to Facebook it is strictly forbidden to disclose, copy, distribute or take any other action against me based on this profile is private and confidential information.
The sentence above is the core of this hoax, although there may be more verbiage associated with it.
If you have posted this, delete it at once. Don’t share it. If you have friends that have posted it, refer them to this article which explains the hoax in detail, and have them delete it.
2) The Free Giveaway Hoax
“Disneyland is giving away two annual passes to a random Facebook user who likes and shares and comments on this post.” Or maybe it’s 50 Cent. Or Walmart. Or Bill Gates. Or Lamborghini.
☛ NO, THEY ARE NOT.
This is a prime example of “like farming.” You need to be aware of what this is and how it works. A great video by Hoax Slayers explains the like-farming business clearly and concisely. Don’t contribute to the financial well-being of criminals. Do not share these posts, and do what you can to have them deleted.
3) The “Talking Angela” scare.
WARNING FOR TO ALL PARENTS WITH CHILDREN THAT HAVE ANY ELECTRONIC DEVICES , EX : IPOD,TABLETS ETC …. THERE IS A SITE CALLED TALKING ANGELA , THIS SITE ASKS KIDS QUESTIONS LIKE : THERE NAMES , WHERE THEY GO TO SCHOOL AND ALSO TAKE PICTURES OF THEIR FACES BY PUSHING A HEART ON THE BOTTOM LEFT CORNER WITHOUT ANY NOTICES . PLEASE CHECK YOUR CHILDREN’S IPODS AND ALL TO MAKE SURE THEY DO NOT HAVE THIS APP !!! PLEASE PASS THIS MESSAGE ON TO YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY MEMBERS THAT HAVE KIDS !!!!
This is a totally bogus warning. It was written by someone ignorant and gullible, and sadly has spread around Facebook like wildfire. There is no truth to it.
4) The “OMG You’ve gotta see this shocking video gross yuck!” scam.
It may say something like “OMG you won’t believe how you look in this vid!” or things like that. Key words to watch out for are:
- shocking
- gross
- disgusting
- unbelievable
- amazing
These are not always just space-occupying like-farming hoaxes – they ofthe get you to install bad software or simply spread themselves to other Facebook users. There’s one safe way to protect yourself:
☛ – Don’t follow the links, don’t press any buttons that say “allow”. Just don’t.
5) “See who has unfriended you,” “see your top three friends,” “change your Facebook background to pink,” “see who has viewed your profile,” etc.
None of these apps or ones like them do what they say they will do. They are there for the purpose of gathering your information, your friends’ information, and passing the gathered information on to third-party marketers.
Facebook works best without any apps at all. If you don’t use them, you don’t have to worry about their invading or sharing your information.
If we could rid facebook of these five categories of hoaxes, our feeds would be a lot cleaner and the criminals who originate them would have to find other ways to generate thier ill-gotten cash.
Be Careful Out There.
The Old Wolf has spoken.
