Facebook users, be aware of "Invitation to Participate in Facebook Research" email surveys similar to the one below that are being sent by scammers. Because Facebook occasionally sends out similar surveys, it is hard to tell which ones are legitimate and which ones are being sent by online scammers or cybercriminals. Some online users will tell you that once an email came from a Facebook.com email address it is safe to assume the email is legitimate. But, that is not true, simply because email addresses can be spoofed, meaning, cybercriminals can make an email message appear as if it came from Facebook although it was sent by them. Therefore, the "From" or the sender's address of an email message should never be used to determine if it is 100% legitimate or not.
Sample of an "Invitation to Participate in Facebook Research" Email
From: Facebook User Experience Research <research@support.facebook.com>
Date: Mon, Nov 13, 2017 at 12:00 PM
Subject: Invitation to Participate in Facebook Research
Facebook Research
Hello,
Facebook is holding a series of online interviews, and we’re hoping you might be interested in joining us! We want to learn more about how Facebook users interact with different brands' Pages. As a token of our appreciation, you’ll receive $150 for your time. To qualify, you need to be 18+ and available to participate sometime between 11/14 - 11/20.
If you are interested in participating, please click below to complete a brief survey. If you are selected for the study, you will receive a follow-up phone call with more details.
https://www.surveymonkey.com/
Thanks,
Catie Franklin | Facebook Research
1 Facebook Way | Menlo Park | 94025 | CA, USA
So, how can you tell if a Facebook survey email message is legitimate or not? Well, the best way is to ask Facebook. Yes, you can ask the Facebook Help Community to help verify the legitimacy of an email message.
This is how it works:
- click here to visit the Facebook Help Community
- click the "Ask a Question" button on the Facebook Help Community website
- select a topic, then a sub-topic
- ask the following question: "Is this email 'Invitation to Participate in Facebook Research' legitimate?"
- click the "Next" button
- Facebook will display a list of related questions, if your question is listed, click on it to view the answers, otherwise, click the "My Question is New" and then copy and paste the body of the email message in the text box on the screen that comes up
- click the "Post" button to submit your question
- re-visit after a few hours to view the answer(s) to your question
To prevent online scammers from tricking users into taking fake Facebook surveys that steal personal information, Facebook should announce their surveys in the Notification box of Facebook users' accounts, or announce them in a post in their News Feed, instead of sending them via emails.
Click here for information about Email Spoofing.