Tag: social media

Twitter Pay for Followers

On Twitter, there are lots of profiles that advertise they will get you thousands of extra Twitter followers for a fee.

There are also such ads on spam mail, websites etc.

This is quite legal of course, although disliked by Twitter.

e.g. CheapFollowersLikes.org – offers several packages including 100 Twitter followers for $15 or 2,500 followers for $50.

There are numerous other such people making similar offers.

It may seem a good idea to get more followers the quick way – more people will see your blog or website, may attract even more followers and if you’re selling something then you need to get followers.

BUT, people who find your Twitter feed, like it for whatever reason and decide to follow you are the people you need and are likely candidates to work with you, buy from you etc.

However, if you buy followers, then these are very likely to be

  1. Robot accounts i.e. no real person
  2. Fake accounts setup simply to get paid for following
  3. Entirely useless to you as there isn’t a person there interested in you
  4. A problem for Twitter who may regard you as a spammer or criminal causing this problem

Get More Followers

If you want more followers, then the obvious starting point is to create more and better content that people will want to see and tell their friends about.

Twitter adverts –Twitter shows your selected posts to more people.  These people may, if your content is appealing, choose to follow you and you only pay Twitter for each new follower. No money wasted.

If you have any experiences with scammers, spammers or time-wasters do let me know, by email.

Fightback Ninja Signature

How to Stay Safe on Social Media

Social Media is incredibly popular and many of us are used to just posting or tweeting anything we like. That’s what social media is for.

BUT, there are unscrupulous people who take advantage of that openness. Scammers.

You should take general precautions – i.e. have appropriate anti-virus and anti-malware on your computer and keep it up to date.

Then it’s a question of taking care that anything you put on social media cannot be used to harm yourself or anyone else.  Following these points below can help:-

  1. Check the privacy and security setting son your social media and set them appropriately.
  2. Set strong passwords (at least 8 characters long and including capitals, numbers and symbols)
  3. Be careful with links and files. If you’re not sure about the source, then don’t download or click on the link. Hackers will sometimes post links in comments to try and trick you into clicking them.
  4. Be aware that your posts may affect others and they may take offence where you wouldn’t or not want their private information online. So be considerate.
  5. Be wary of add-ons. Many games and add-ons are created by third party companies and may not be as safe as you assume.  Be wary of any extra permissions that an APP requires.
  6. Be careful who you follow or friend. You may want to have hundreds of friends, but does it really help anything?
  7. Periodically, try a Google search on your name – to see what personal information is available
  8. Never log in from public hotspots. Most social networking sites don’t have a secure login (https), so your user name and password could be copied at any time. Only log in from trusted wireless networks.

Remember: If you wouldn’t say it or do it in public, don’t post it online.
Think twice before posting pictures you wouldn’t want your parents, partner or employer to see.

Do Share this post on social media – click on the post title then scroll down to the social media share buttons.

Beware Social Networking Scams

There is a rapid growth in the prevalence of social networking scams and the most common ones are listed below.

1.                 Fake Identity

businessman-607834_640Creating accounts on social networking sites is generally very simple and quick.  Do not trust someone’s name unless you really do know the person.

There are harmless reasons why someone might create a fake identity on social media but more commonly they are used for selling fake items, spam messages and identity theft.

The scammers sometimes pretend to be a real person – they collect information, phot

2. Viruses, Ransomware and Other Malware

Facebook and some other social networking sites allow for installation of 3rd party APPS. Most of these are harmless but scammers can create these APPS and attempt to have you download them. They may send you a message that appears to be from the site management or from a friend, but the APP may try to steal your identity information, password and/or credit card details.

Do not trust 3rd party APPS unless you are sure they are OK.

3. Identity Theft

Profile pages often contain personal information that is very useful to scammers, such as  your age/birthdate, your location, phone number, email address,  job and family details. Plus your photos.

They might try to build on that by phishing for your log-on password.  “Phishing” means the scammer pretends to be someone you would trust  e.g. a bank or the management of the social media site and tries to get your password etc.

The most common technique is the message through the network that appears to have come from an online buddy, inviting you to check out a new profile page. Clicking the link takes you to a bogus page that asks you to log on “again.” In reality, you’re handing over your confidential password to a scammer.

You can limit the risk of this type of identity theft by not posting too much giveaway detail about yourself on your profile page and watching out for suspicious invitations to view another profile.

Beware of any links that you have clicked that then ask you to sign on again. If you’re already signed on to the network you would not normally be asked to sign in again – be suspicious.

4.         Misuse of Activity Information

You must be careful on what information you publish on social networking sites. It’s good to be open but do realise that some information is a gift to criminals or can lead to future embarrassment.

e.g.1.  I’m off to India for 2 weeks on Tuesday. Have left the dog at Uncles. i.e. your house will be unoccupied for 2 weeks. If your address is accessible anywhere on the Internet then this is a gift to a burglar.

e.g. 2. Just back from last night’s party – was drunk in the gutter and taken in by the Police. See picture taken by friends. This is not so good if you’re going job hunting as prospective employers may read your social networking entries.

e.g. 3. Been snogging Julia again – hope her husband doesn’t find out. He may just do that.

5. Profile Page Hacks

If your password is guessable, then you may find your profile page has been hacked. They can  install invisible code that can be used for malicious purposes. Or they simply use your ID as a platform for spamming.

The key to preventing this type of attack is not only to have a strong password .

Refer to blog post  https://fightback.ninja/test/how-to-keep-your-passwords-safe/ for details on how to set strong passwords

If your profile or your identity are in any way compromised, you should also inform the site operator. If threats are involved, tell the police.

Do Share this post on social media – click on the post title then scroll down to the social media share buttons.

ninja_signature