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Tag: facebook hoax

  • Next Facebook Hoax Might Not Spread As Far With New Facebook Ranking Update

    Next Facebook Hoax Might Not Spread As Far With New Facebook Ranking Update

    Facebook announced a new update to how it shows content in the News Feed that re-evaluates how it shows posts that are going viral. The idea behind the update appears to be to stop the spread of content that while it is going viral, a large number of people indicate that they don’t want to see it.

    Facebook software engineer Sami Tas and data scientist Ta Virot Chiraphadhanakul explain:

    Sometimes stories on Facebook go viral, where millions of people see the same video, photo, or other post. It’s hard to predict when or why posts go viral. Sometimes this happens because lots of people are really interested in seeing that particular post. However, sometimes a post goes viral and many people tell us that they weren’t interested in seeing it, despite lots of people liking, sharing and commenting on it.

    One example of a type of viral post that people report they don’t enjoy seeing in their News Feed are hoaxes. If there is a viral story about a hoax, it can get a lot of reshares and comments, which would normally help us infer it might be an interesting story. However, we’ve heard feedback that people don’t want to see these stories as much as other posts in their News Feed.

    Facebook surveys tens of thousands of people each day and asks people if they prefer a specific viral post over another post. The update means Facebook will use it a greater signal when a “significant amount” of people say they prefer the other posts.

    Hoaxes are just one example of where this update might make a difference, but are a common issue on the social network. If the update can help keep from spreading misinformation as much, it has to be a good thing.

  • Facebook ‘Powerball’ Scam Screws Woman out of $10K

    Facebook ‘Powerball’ Scam Screws Woman out of $10K

    Neither Facebook nor its CEO Mark Zuckerberg are ever going to give you money, unless you’re a charity – then you might get a fat donation from Zuck. But for average, everyday people on Facebook, anyone claiming to have money for you is lying.

    Most of us would reply duh to that – but some of the oldest scams in the book continue to rob Facebook users of incredible sums of money.

    The latest hoax to do so involves a so-called “Facebook Powerball” lottery, supposedly sponsored by Mark Zuckerberg himself.

    A Pennsylvania woman was recently duped, and lost nearly $9,500 as a result.

    WTAE says:

    The woman was contacted by a friend’s account, but the account had been hacked. The suspect then told the woman that she had won a Facebook Powerball lottery that was hosted by Mark Zuckerberg himself. The woman was informed she needed to send $1,000 to receive $100,000, $2,000 to receive $200,000 and so on.

    The suspect informed the woman she needed to send $1,000 via Western Union to an individual in Mobile, Alabama.

    After sending the money, the woman was told that the UPS truck that was delivering her money was stopped by the IRS. The suspect then told the woman she needed to wire transfer $8,500 to an account in Atlanta, which she did, after being advised the money would be delivered to her address within 24 hours.

    The ol’ send money to make money scam – for the social media age.

    It was only when the woman was told her money had been seized by the police after her UPS driver died in a crash that she began to get suspicious. Only then.

    I guess I’ll go add ‘Zuckerberg lottery scam’ to the growing list of hoaxes that people keep falling for, inexplicably.

  • Casino Snakes Rumor Is Just Another Internet Hoax

    How about this sequel title to Snakes On a Plane? Snakes In a Casino.

    One thing the internet is certainly good for is the ability to spread rumors and spread them fast. However, it’s not true, despite what you’ve read or what your co-worker told you. There are no snakes slithering around the craps table, slinking around the roulette wheel or grossing out old ladies in wheel chairs as they pull down the lucky lever on a one-armed bandit at the Sands Casino Resort in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

    The rumor has officially been debunked by the Pennsylvania State Police. Trooper William Ortiz stated, “absolutely zero snakes in this place.” Las Vegas Sands Corp., which owns the Sands Casino in Bethlehem, released a statement yesterday, “There have been no reported incidents of snakes on our property. We do not allow any animals on property with the exception of service animals.”

    The story goes like this. A patient visits their doctor concerning some kind of insect bite. The doctor informs the patient that they have a snake bite. Then the doctors asks the patient if they have recently visited the Sands in Bethlehem. The doctor then tells the patient that they are the 14th person to come to the office with a snake bite received from the Sands Casino that week.

    What was the reason given why a person would bring a snake into a casino? Supposedly, certain gamblers consider reptiles a good luck charm.

    Facebook posts and emails were spread online, and the rumor quickly became viral. Julie Corwin, who is a spokesperson for Sands, had this to say about the Facebook post. “It seems like there was one post that was going around and then it’s been kind of modified in a bunch of different directions.” The original post which sparked the hoax has since been deleted.

    If anything this internet hoax is another simple reminder of the power of the internet, especially social media. The Sands lost business this past week because we now have the ability to spread stories around the world in minutes. Perhaps in this case, a little common sense would have quashed the rumor? But for many, hearing about and talking about slithering snakes in a casino sounds like more fun than listening to reason.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Facebook Hoax Alert: Apparently, People Are Still Falling for the ‘See Who Viewed Your Profile’ Scam

    Guys, we need to talk.

    It appears that people still think that there’s some way to see who has viewed their Facebook profiles. Scammers keep designing bogus apps to capitalize on this belief, and there’s a new one in town according to security firm Symantec.

    Here’s what Symantec found:

    The phishing site boasted that the application would enable users to view a list of people who visited their profile page. The site offered two options to activate the fake app. The first option was by downloading software containing the malware and the second was by entering user credentials and logging into Facebook. A message on the phishing page encouraged users to download the software that would allegedly send notifications to the user when someone visited their Facebook profile. If the download button was clicked, a file download prompt appeared. The file contained malicious content detected by Symantec as Infostealer. On the other hand, if user credentials were entered, the phishing site redirected to a legitimate Facebook page.

    And if you give up your personal details like passwords to phishers, well, you know what happens next. It’s a headache to say the least.

    Listen, there are a handful of classic Facebook scams that have been going around forever. Let’s just call it the Facebook hoax Hall of Fame. There’s the whole “dislike” button thing, the whole “share this or Facebook is going to charge you” thing, and then there’s this.

    Facebook is never going to let you browse a list of people who’ve viewed your profile. I mean, who do you think they are, LinkedIn? If they ever did, stalkers would stop using the service and without the stalker base, well, Facebook would probably be forced to pack it up.

    Image via Symantec Blog

  • Facebook Hoax Claims Users Have a Say in New Video Ads

    Video ads are likely coming to your news feed, and despite what a popular hoax message is telling you, they’re not going to be as bad as you think and you definitely don’t have a say in whether or not they are eventually implemented.

    An old hoax is gaining new life on Facebook, as new reports of impending video ads hit the web. The hoax message features a picture of Mark Zuckerberg and claims to be authored by the CEO himself.

    “For those of you that don’t know, I’m Mark Zuckerberg, one of the founders of Facebook. We are currently looking into playing video ads as a way to increase the profitability of Facebook. These ads will stop what you are doing every ten minutes and play for anywhere from 15 to 60 seconds. You will then be able to resume what you were doing prior to the ad playing. I’m sure that a number of people will be against this, so for your sake, we are giving you a say in whether or not these ads will be implemented. Share this photo if you don’t want video ads to play while you’re using Facebook!” says the message.

    There are so many things wrong with this claim that I don’t even know where to begin. First off, Mark Zuckerberg has never and will never send direct messages to Facebook users – in fact, nobody from Facebook ever will.

    Also, the claim that Facebook is going to make you stop everything you’re doing to watch an ad every 10 minutes is ridiculous. Rumors suggests that Facebook could be preparing news feed video ads that may run 15 seconds a piece – but they will only be shown to users a couple of times a day at the most.

    Finally, the idea that Facebook users have a say in whether or not Facebook launches any sort of new ad unit is wrong. Sharing a photo won’t help you. It doesn’t work with abused children. It doesn’t work with account verification. It doesn’t help with getting “Mermaid Girl” much-needed surgery. Sharing a status never helps you achieve anything on Facebook.

    Just use your noggin. If it sounds suspect – that’s because it is. Facebook video ads are on the horizon, and sharing a photo isn’t going to stop it.

    [via Graham Cluley]

  • Eminem Stabbed in NYC? Nope, Just Another Facebook Hoax

    Rapper Eminem left nearly DEAD after being stabbed 4 times in NYC!

    That’s the message circulating around Facebook right now. The post claims that the whole thing was caught on surveillance video, and offers a link to said video.

    Luckily for Eminem, the whole thing is just another Facebook hoax. One that if followed, will simply lead you down a path of survey scams, info phishing, and perpetuation of the scam via blanket Facebook shares.

    Here’s what the hoax post looks like. It features what appears to be a white male, with multiple knife wounds on his back. I guess it could be Eminem, right?

    (image)

    Clicking on the link takes you to a site called amazingvid.biz, which features a video embed and what appears to be a Facebook comments plugin. But when you click to play the video, it asks you to share it with your Facebook friends before clicking play again. And those Facebook comments? Fake and unclickable. They’re simply there in an attempt to give legitimacy to the scam.

    (image)

    This Facebook scam is simply a rehash of a scam from 2011 that used the exact same image of a white male with his back sliced up to convince Facebook users that Justin Bieber had been stabbed “by a crazed fan outside an NYC nightclub.”

  • No, You’re Not Saving Starving Children by Sharing That Facebook Photo

    Facebook is not, nor will they ever be in the business of donating money to causes based on sharing content on the site. This is a fact, not a theory. But some people still fail to understand this. Even people who know that it’s probably a scam will sometimes share the status or photo anyway, simply using the “what could it hurt” excuse.

    And this is how viral scams are spread. If people simply stopped sharing content from like and share-whores, the problem would work itself out.

    Sadly, this is probably not going to happen any time soon. That’s why we have to bring to your attention the latest hoax spreading across Facebook.

    This one purports that Facebook is donating $1 to sick, starving children if you share a photo of them. This is simply not true.

    “I’m not asking you to like this, but please do share because Facebook donates $1 for these sick children for every single share,” says the image (via Hoax Slayer).

    Sharing hoaxes are some of the oldest types of hoaxes on Facebook. One recent hoax status suggested that a teenage boy needed life-saving surgery after being shot by his stepfather. Of course, the story was complete BS and all that sharing it accomplished was polluting people’s news feed. But it was shared – a lot.

    Of course, sharing a status isn’t as tempting as sharing a photo. Last month, a scam spread around Facebook that featured a doctored photo of Bill Gates holding a sign that said he would give $5,000 to everyone who shared the photo. The photo was shared hundreds of thousands of times before Facebook yanked it.

    Stop, think, and remember that Facebook doesn’t give out money based on shares. Nobody does. Just don’t click that share button.

  • Facebook Phishing Scam Poses as Message from Mark ‘Zurckerberg’

    Facebook Phishing Scam Poses as Message from Mark ‘Zurckerberg’

    Facebook CEO Mark Zurckerberg is not sending out privacy notices, requesting that users verify their accounts. That’s because no such messages would ever come from the Facebook CEO. There’s also that pesky little detail that the CEO of Facebook is not Mark Zurckerberg.

    This one should immediately throw up some red flags, considering that the scammers can’t even spell “Zuckerberg” correctly. A new phishing scam making its way around Facebook is just a new riff on a classic ruse.

    Hoax Slayer is reporting a message hitting some users’ inboxes claims to be from “Mark Zurckerberg” and states that…

    Mark Zurckerberg

    Dear Facebook user, After reviewing your page activity, it was determined that you were in violation of our Terms of service.Your account might be permanently suspended.

    If you think this is a mistake,please verify your account on the link below.This would indicate that your Page does not have a violation on our Terms of Service.

    We will immediately review your account activity,and we will notify you again via email.
    Verify your account at the link below:

    Clicking on the link will direct users to a fake Facebook login page. Although made to look like the real Facebook login page, this malicious site will simply steal your info once you enter it in.

    This type account verification scam is old, but persistent. Most claim that the user has violated some Facebook terms and must verify their account in order to keep it from being suspended. In the past couple of months, we’ve seen a couple variations of this scam hit Facebook. One version purported to come from the Facebook Security Team. Another scam message claimed that users had been “annoying or insulting” to other users and that they face account suspension. Both of those scams, like this “Zurckerberg” one, asked for personal info to “verify” the accounts.

  • Rihanna Sex Tape Scam Travels Around Facebook

    If you’re strolling through your Facebook news feed, bored by all of your friends’ lame breakfast statuses and baby pics, and you happen to see something about a Rihanna sex tape – keep on strolling.

    Sophos Naked Security blog tips us to a new type of a very classic style of Facebook scam – the celebrity sex tape. This time it involves Rihanna.

    What’s a little different about this one is that it hides inside an event: [VIDEO] RIHANNA SEX TAPE. Once you access the actual event page, you’ll be met with the text “I lost all respect for her after watching this” and a y.ahoo.it link. Don’t click it.

    (image)

    Rihanna isn’t the only celebrity with a recent sex tape scam on Facebook. Earlier this month, a viral scam made the rounds suggesting that Taylor Swift’s iPhone had been hacked and a sex tape had been leaked. Clicking on the provided link directed curious Facebookers to an online survey scam that phished for users’ personal info.

    As always, be vigilant. And don’t let your curiosity cloud your better judgment.

  • No, There Is No Facebook Jail, But There Is Some Truth Behind the Hoax

    Don’t worry, there is no Facebook Jail – although the concept is intriguing. An old viral hoax involving account suspensions and friend requests has morphed to suggest that sending too many requests could land you in this hellish place.

    The hoax suggests that Facebook is banning people from the site willy-nilly, for simply sending out too many friend requests. “Nice people are getting banned by Facebook, and it could happen to you!” warns the hoax status.

    Although the hoax is wrong and misleading, there’s a tiny shred of truth in it (unlike some hoaxes). First, here’s what you may see floating around your news feed:

    Or, you may see the viral message in this format:

    VERY IMPORTANT: PLEASE READ: Nice people are getting banned from facebook and it could happen to you, too – the reason is because when you get a friend request, if you click the “not now” button, you will automatically recieve a request from Facebook saying, “Do you know this person?” if you click no, that person will automatically be suspended from group chats, blocked from sending friend requests, and other nasty things for 7-30 days, and if it happens enough – permanently. So please.. if you get an unwanted friend request, just ignore it. If you accidentally click the “not now” button, then ignore the request from facebook asking if you know them – do not respond to it. Please pass this around so we can protect our friends (and ourselves!).

    A permanent ban from Facebook, thus “Facebook Jail.”

    First and foremost, Facebook does not permanently ban accounts simply because too many people have rejected their friend requests. But, Facebook does block users from sending additional friend requests in this situation:

    “If your account is temporarily blocked from sending friend requests, it’s because friend requests you’ve sent have gone unanswered or been marked as unwelcome. From now on, please don’t send friend requests to people you don’t know personally. Facebook is a place for connecting with friends, family, classmates, coworkers and other people you know well,” says Facebook in its Help Center.

    Even then, users can still utilize every other aspect of Facebook.

    “Your account is only blocked from sending friend requests and messages to people you don’t know. This block is temporary, and you can still use other Facebook features during it.”

    Facebook does reserve the right to remove your account at its discretion, if you break the terms of service. These terms include a ban on “abusive” behavior, as well as habitually breaking Facebook law. So, technically, your account could be suspended for spamming friend requests, over and over again.

    But it’s unlikely that this is happening to “nice people” out there who are just trying to make new friends. And there definitely is no Facebook Jail.

    [Hoax-Slayer via AllFacebook]

  • No, Bill Gates Won’t Give You $5,000 to Share a Photo (Facebook Hoax)

    No, Bill Gates Won’t Give You $5,000 to Share a Photo (Facebook Hoax)

    There’s a new viral share hoax going around Facebook involving a photo of Bill Gates.

    “Hey Facebook, As some of you may know, I’m Bill Gates. If you click that share link, I will give you $5,000. I always deliver, I mean, I brought your Windows XP, right?” says a sign in the hands of the Microsoft founder.

    The photo already has over 200,000 shares.

    In reality, Bill Gates isn’t going to give you $5,000 for clicking share. Nobody is, for that matter. The photo was taken from Gates’ first-ever reddit AMA, which he hosted on Monday. Here’s the original image:

    Clearly, the text inside the piece of paper has simply been shopped. It also looks like they’ve replaced the little reddit alien in the background with a sex toy or something. Cool.

    There’s no doubt that some people shared this simply because they thought it was funny – they know it’s fake. But there are plenty of people (evidenced by the comments) that believe sharing this photo will net them five grand from one of the richest men in the world.

    In either case, just don’t share it. You may know it’s a joke but thousands of others don’t. And it’s all over my news feed. And it’s annoying. So stop. Thanks.

  • Taylor Swift Sex Tape Facebook Hoax Makes The Rounds

    Taylor Swift Sex Tape Facebook Hoax Makes The Rounds

    Although it may be tempting, you should avoid clicking any links on Facebook claiming to house a leaked sex tape featuring Grammy award-winning artist Taylor Swift. That’s because it’s a hoax that will lead you down the annoying road of a survey scam.

    Facebook users are seeing a viral scam message that suggests a page called “TMZ Leaks” has stumbled upon a new Taylor Swift sex tape.

    “The famous singer Taylor Swift had her iPhone hacked Monday and a sex tape between her and former boyfriend Harry Styles has been leaked on the internet,” one of the scams reads. “Taylor’s publicists are trying to take down all of the websites hosting it, but we found a working one! Watch the video before it’s taken down! CLICK HERE,” says the message.

    (image)

    If you click the links, you’ll be directed to a series of online surveys – some of which phish for personal information. No sex tape exists at the end of the rabbit hole – instead you may be prompted to download spammy toolbars and other software.

    Facebook sex tape hoaxes aren’t uncommon, and you should be aware of the various survey scams that plague the network. You may think that there’s no harm in simply clicking, just to see if this is finally the legit sex tape leak you’ve been waiting for – but don’t do it. That’s how viral hoaxes spread across the network.

    Yesterday, we told you about another hoax making the rounds on Facebook. It suggests that Facebook will close for a three day maintenance period – from February 29th to the 31st. If you think really hard (or check a calendar), you should quickly see why that’s untrue.

    [Bitdefender via Fox News]

  • Dumb Facebook Hoax Suggests Site Downtime, Could Be Dumbest Hoax Ever

    With Facebook comes stupid Facebook hoaxes – it’s inevitable. There are over 1 billion monthly active users on the social network, and a sample size that large is bound to include plenty of twits. No, you’re not going to win a share of this dude’s lottery prize if you share his photo. You’re also not going to help save this baby born with its heart on the outside if you like a page. Get it together, people.

    But a new hoax making the rounds may just be the dumbest thing to hit the Facebook community in quite some time – maybe ever.

    The viral status suggests that at the end of February, Facebook will be shutting down for three whole days for some sort of site maintenance.

    According to Sophos Naked Security blog, the hoax first appeared in French and has morphed into English.

    Here’s what the message looks like (or at least some form of this):

    WARNING!! Facebook will be closed for maintenance from February 29th to 31st!! Facebook wants YOU to Share this message with at least 15 of your friends for the best chance of alerting everyone. Many people will try to log in from February 29 to 31, just to find the site closed down for those days with no warning

    Facebook has never and will never go down for three days of site maintenance. Plus, Facebook definitely won’t go down from February 29th to February 31st because those dates don’t exist.

    In 2013, February ends on the 28th. In a few years there will be a February 29th, but there will never, ever be a February 30th or 31st (at least in our modern calendar).

    Use your noggins and stop spreading this stuff. Pretty please?

  • Facebook Hoax Alert: You’re Not Helping an Injured 14-Year-Old Boy by Sharing a Status

    It’s disconcerting that it bears repeating, but here goes: Facebook is never going to donate to some cause based on how many times you share a status. End of story.

    But that simple fact still floats over the heads of many users, who continue to share hoax statuses and clog up everyone’s news feeds with rubbish.

    Today’s hoax making the rounds involves a story about a young boy who needs money for a life saving surgery. According to the hoax status, he was shot by his stepfather, who was attempting to rape the boy’s 6-year-old sister. It’s reminiscent of another hoax spread around back in 2011.

    Here’s the full text of the hoax:

    A 14 YEAR OLD BOY WAS SHOT 6 TIMES BY HIS STEPFATHER. THIS BOY WAS PROTECTING HIS LITTLE 6 YEAR OLD SISTER WHO WAS ABOUT TO BE RAPED BY THIS POOR… EXCUSE OF A MAN. THE LITTLE GIRL DID GET HURT, THANKS TO HER BRAVE OLDER BROTHER. THEIR MOM WAS AT WORK WHEN THIS HAPPENED. NOW THIS BRAVE YOUNG LITTLE BOY IS FIGHTING FOR HIS LIFE,BUT DOCTORS SAY HE WILL NOT SURVIVE UNLESS HE GETS AN OPERATION WHICH IS COSTLY AND HIS MOM CANNOT PAY. FACEBOOK COMPANIES HAVE AGREED TO DONATE 45 CENTS FOR EVERY TIME SOMEONE SHARE THIS MESSAGE SO, PLEASE CLICK SHARE SO THAT TOGETHER WE CAN HELP SAVE THIS BOUS LIFE……NSFTBC! If you had a heart you’d do it, It will only take a minute of your time!

    Sad story, right? Fortunately, it’s untrue and sharing it will do nothing except make you appear daft to your friends.

    There are numerous ways in which users can spot a hoax like this and nip it before it has a chance to take off. First, like I said before, Facebook isn’t in the habit or donating money to causes on a per-share basis. Second, the status contains no link to a real news story, a donation page, or an official Facebook post. And lastly, just look at it.

    [via Sophos]