Last Updated on by SCARS Editorial Team
SCARSSCARS SCARS - Society of Citizens Against Relationship Scams Inc. A government registered crime victims' assistance & crime prevention nonprofit organization based in Miami, Florida, U.S.A. SCARS supports the victims of scams worldwide and through its partners in more than 60 countries around the world. Incorporated in 2015, its team has 30 years of continuous experience educating and supporting scam victims. Visit www.AgainstScams.org to learn more about SCARS.™ ScamScam A Scam is a confidence trick - a crime - is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust through deception. Scams or confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, irresponsibility, or greed and exploiting that. Researchers have defined confidence tricks as "a distinctive species of fraudulent conduct ... intending to further voluntary exchanges that are not mutually beneficial", as they "benefit con operators ('con men' - criminals) at the expense of their victims (the 'marks')". A scam is a crime even if no money was lost. Basics: Too Many Facebook Groups
All Scam Victims Have Asked Themselves How And Why They Were Targeted! Did You Ever Think It Was The Groups You Joined?
[lwptoc]
Facebook is a wonderous platform connecting half of the world – at least if you believe Facebook.
The Reality Though Is Quite Different.
At least half of all Facebook profiles are fake or fraudulent. Just imagine that, over one billion fake profiles! (See here »)
The staggering truth is that almost everyone that will contact you online – that you do not personally know is going to be a fake – is going to be a scammerScammer A Scammer or Fraudster is someone that engages in deception to obtain money or achieve another objective. They are criminals that attempt to deceive a victim into sending more or performing some other activity that benefits the scammer.!
But Let’s Talk About Groups And Scam Victim BehaviorBehavior Behavior / Behavioral Actions Otherwise known as habits, behavior or behavioral actions are strategies to help prevent online exploitation that target behavior, such as social engineering of victims. Changing your behavior is the ONLY effective means to reduce or prevent scams.
Scammers have solid preferences when it comes to shopping for potential scam victims. Facebook Groups are like farms full of waiting victims.
The Facebook Groups They Target Most Are:
- Buy / Sell / Trade Groups
- Local Community Groups
- Celebrity Fan Groups
- Social Meeting & Singles Groups
Why These Groups?
Because their members are predisposed to meeting strangers.
- Especially in the Buy/Sell Groups – victims are looking for deals – this tells a scammer they are predisposed to being scammed, and mostly they are right.
- The same for Singles Groups – victims are actively out looking for strangers to interact with, what could be more perfect for a scammer?
- Local Community Groups are also places where strangers communicate and also where there is automatic trust because of the supposed “local connection.”
- Celebrity Fan Groups are also full of people looking for small bits of connected fame, and scammer pretending to be celebrities provide it.
If you have joined any of these types of groups we encourage you to leave since in our experience they are poorly administered and flooded with scammers and fake profiles.
Too Many Groups
How Many Is Too Many Facebook Groups, And Why Does It Matter?
If someone belongs to groups that are not visited daily or at least every couple of days then they are a bomb waiting to go off — because the prospective victim is not really following what is going on, and this leaves them as an easy target to scammers that also belong to that group. Scammers mine the Facebook group’s members lists of these groups and look for inactivity. This tells them who might be more vulnerable to being successfully scammed.
Each person that approaches us for help displays their Facebook Groups (it is a Facebook screening tool for Group Admins) and we constantly see (literally every single day) scam victims that belong to dozens of groups or specifically to groups like those above.
The Common Thread Is Obvious To Anyone That Cares To Look At It
Facebook groups can be great if they are well managed and a person is an active participant. But if they are not then they are potential danger zones.
How To Save Yourself?
We encourage each person that belongs to Facebook Groups to go through them and see what you have joined. Walk away (“leave”) groups you do not care about. And those that they stay in be watchful for scammer behaviors.