Category: Social Media

Instagram Finstas

A Finsta is a shortened term for Fake Instagram, which is an Instagram account used by teens and young adults to make more genuine posts than is usual.

The problem is that many people like to show their best side on Instagram – to create an image of a perfect life, holidays, relationships, home etc.

But that hides the reality. So, some young people create these fake Instagram accounts for the ‘real’ posts i.e. inside jokes, very personal stuff, ‘just woke up’ selfies, pics that are not posed etc.

Strangely that means the ‘fake’ account are more realistic than the original accounts.

So, a person’s normal Instagram account might have dozens, hundreds or more followers but the Finsta one may just have a handful of trusted followers and a name that means people cannot guess the owner of the account.

Perhaps these ‘fake’ accounts are an outlet for the honesty missing from so many Instagram accounts.

How to Make a Finsta

  1. Open your Instagram account and click the three-line icon in the top right.
  2. Go to settings on the menu and select Add Account
  3. Make sure to create a username that is sufficiently different from your normal account, input your phone number etc. for verification.
  4. Only tell a select group of close friends about the new account and warn them not to tell anyone else
  5. Start posting the real stuff

If you have any experiences with these scams do let me know, by email.

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Vanna’s Story

Vanna says-

I wanted to buy a new doggie bed for my King Charles, as the old one is getting pretty worn out.

I researched on the Internet and found just what I wanted then searched for the cheapest price.

Furrybeds of Coventry seemed the best bet and I placed the order and paid £35

A confirmation email arrived telling me the order had been processed and delivery was due within 2 weeks.

I relaxed and thought everything was OK

When I hadn’t received a delivery or heard anything further, after about 3 weeks I contacted them again to be told there was a delivery problem and I needed to wait a couple more weeks.

Still nothing so I tried to contact them again, but there was no response on their phone number or emails.

The ’company’ had disappeared and my money with them.

Checking further I found a number of reviews on the Internet showing other people had also been ripped off.

My only hope is to recover the money from my credit card company.

I have now learned to be more careful online and to pick well established suppliers where possible and to always check for reviews before purchasing from anyone new to me.

It’s not worth the risk to save a few pounds and don’t be taken in by Facebook adverts which is where I first saw the dogie beds.

Vanna

If you have any experiences with these scams do let me know, by email.

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Tips on Facebook Privacy

If you’re happy with the amount of information that Facebook has about you, then no problem.

But if Facebook’s intrusion into your private life does concern you, then there are ways to reduce what they know about you.

  1. Revoke app permissions

It is convenient to let other APPS and websites use your Facebook login and password rather than having to create and remember yet another login and password.

But that gives Facebook a lot of information on your activities on those APP – that’s probably why Facebook let you login to other APPS using your Facebook credentials.

Click on the arrow in the top right hand corner of your screen, then select Settings and Privacy then APPS and websites to review which services use your Facebook credentials and consider revoking them.

  1. Categories used to target adverts at you

Facebook collects your data so that they can sell it to advertisers.

But you can which categories they have you in and delete them.

In Settings and Privacy select Ads and you’ll see the categories and be able to change them.

  1. Turn off Location History

If you turn off Location Tracking on your smart phone then Facebook on that phone cannot track locations.

You may want to turn this feature off in your computer as well.

Settings and Privacy, then select Settings, then select Location and you cans top Facebook trying to track where you are.

If you have any experiences with these scams do let me know, by email.

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Facebook Privacy Check

Facebook can help you to review your privacy settings.

This feature is called Privacy Check-up and you can access it by clicking the small down triangle icon at the top right corner of the Facebook screen. You click “Settings and Privacy” then “Privacy Check-up”.

Things you can review in Privacy Checkup:

  • Advert preferences
  • Who can see what you share
  • How to keep your account secure
  • How people can find you on Facebook
  • Your data settings
  • How to keep your account secure

Everyone should go through these options carefully and restrict access to your account information, restrict who sees your posts and so on.

The less the criminals can see of your activity the safer. You do not strangers seeing your birthdate, phone number, relationship status etc.

The section on keeping your account secure contains good advice on having a strong password and turning on alerts means you will be warned if here is an unusual login to your account.

Many people use Facebook to login to other services – this saves on having extra logins but means Facebook knows a lot more about your activities. You can also review which APPS you have given permission to access your Facebook details. If you’re not sure why an APP needs that access then revoke that permission.

Stay safe on Facebook and periodically use the Privacy checker to make sure all is in order

If you have any experiences with these scams do let me know, by email.

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LinkedIn Phishing Scams

LinkedIn is the social media network for business people, with over 500 million subscribers.

Generally, users trust LinkedIn more than the other social media services as it has had more real content, less advertising, people behaving better e.g. not posting offensive material and so on.

However, scammers have noticed that people trust messages from LinkedIn more than say from Facebook and aim to take advantage of that.

Scammers may send messages claiming to be someone interesting, but commonly they hijack accounts and use them to send what appear to be genuine messages from real people.

Protect Your Account

  • Limit the contact information on your profile – do not include sensitive information such as home phone number or address.
  • Don’t click on suspicious links – links in any unexpected message should not be clicked on.
  • Think carefully before accepting a connection request from anyone you don’t know in the real world. LinkedIn is great for building a network, but you must know who’s in it and whether they are safe.

Phishing messages are now very common on LinkedIn. These are where the sender pretends to be someone you would trust e.g. a LinkedIn worker or someone from a large well-known business.

They try to con you into giving away key information or financial information or enough personal information to sell to other scammers and identity thieves.

 Warning Signs of a Phishing Message:

  1. Messages containing bad spelling, grammar, and that aren’t addressed to you personally.
  2. Messages asking you to act immediately.

Common message titles include:-

  • Subject: Account Suspended
  • Subject: LinkedIn Closing & Termination of your Account
  • Subject: LinkedIn Profile Security Alert
  • Subject: YOUR ACCOUNT WILL BE TERMINATED

If you have any experiences with these scams do let me know, by email.

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Facebook Friends PayPal Scam

You get a message on Facebook from a friend.

The friend tells a story about selling an item on eBay or similar service, but has a problem with her PayPal account.

She asks you to let her send the payment to your PaylPal account, instead of hers.

That may sound safe – after all, she’s putting money into your account.

But, it is not safe.

The way the scam works is that she will pay money into your PayPal account (supposedly from some business) and ask you to transfer it to her bank account immediately.

Once you do that, she will issue a PayPal charge back to remove her payment to you and your PayPal account goes negative and the scammer gets away with the money – at your expense.

If someone you know approaches you on social media or email with an odd proposition – verify that it is the person you expect, not someone who has hacked the account and is simply pretending to be the friend.

Do not allow anyone to use your PayPal account for any reason.

If you have any experiences with Facebook scams do let me know, by email.

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