Online Threat Alerts (OTA)
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Scammers Posing as Facebook Employees or Friends

Facebook users, beware of scammers posing as Facebook employees or your friends. Scammers are telling their potential victims that they are Facebook lottery winners or winners of some so-called Facebook promotion, and the victims need to send money in order to cover the cost of delivering their lottery prizes to them. The scammers will also ask their potential victims for their personal information, credit card information and other financial information, which they will use to rip off their victims.

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To make the scams look legitimate, the scammers pretend to be Facebook employers by spoofing their email address or creating fake Facebook profiles. They (scammers) also pretend to be their potential victims’ friends by cloning their potential victims’ Facebook accounts, or by hijacking their potential victims’ Facebook friends’ accounts, and then using the same cloned or hijacked accounts to contact their potential victims.

To learn more about Facebook Profile Cloning, please click here, or to learn more about Email Spoofing, please click here.

When scammers use those deceptive techniques, it will make their scam messages appear as if it came from their potential victims’ friends, Facebook or other legitimate organizations. So, it is important that Facebook users remember that there is no Facebook lottery or promotion, so if someone calls them or send them an email message, text message or social media chat message, they should disconnect the call or delete the message, even if the message appears as if it came from a friend or a legitimate organization. And, Facebook users should never send their personal or financial information to anyone who requests the same via a telephone call, email, text or social media chat message, because Facebook will never ask their users or others, to send their information via any of those forms of communication media, or to send them money in order to collect some so-called prize.

Below are comments from Facebook users who were contacted by scammers, who attempted to trick them into sending money, personal or financial information.

Complaints from Potential Victims of Facebook Scammers

One of my Facebook friends asked me if I got my bonus. I asked him what bonus? He said your Facebook promotions bonus. So I laughed. He said it's not a joke...they delivered cash to my house. He said all I had to do is text this guy Eric at (706)666-3518. So I did, and I asked the guy if this is a scam. He claims it is not. My Facebook friend also inboxed me a clear bag of money with stacks of bundled cash in it that he claims they delivered. I called the number also but no one answered...but the recording said something about Google in it.

This person keeps texting me asking for my name, address, telephone number, sex, occupation, city and state. They claim they are going to deliver $50,000 to my door in a few hours. They just need me to send the fee through MoneyGram which is $350. I told them no, I don't have any money. I said you can take my fees out of my $50,000. They claim they cannot open my money until they get to my house. The guy said I could pay half the fees and I could give him the other half when he gets to my house.

My Facebook friend is really acting like this is really legit and like he really got money from them. My friend said I really want you to get your money, how much of the fees do you have? I told him none of it. The guy Eric keeps texting me and will not stop. He wants to know when and what day I will have the fees. He claims my name was on some promotional awards list and told me not to tell anyone about my award. This sounds really fake so I'm quite sure it is. That's why I decided to report it.

There is something similar going around, don't know if it's the same deal. Someone told me to contact Brenda Fox with the Powerball lottery, same scenario on seeing my name on a list. My cousin gave the money and said she was delivered her money by FedEx.

I was asked for 650.00 to be giving to the FedEx agent to receive mine. Didn’t sound right to me so i told them I couldn't do that. Then she asked about my bank and I wouldn't give out that info or the credit card info she asked for.

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