FBI Issues Warning Over Friendly Facebook Scams
The disturbing evolution of the 419 scam from e-mails from Nigerian princes to hijacked Facebook accounts is raising serious alarms within law enforcement circles. We originally reported this new tactic in January, but users still haven't caught on. Just last month a Missouri woman was taken for $4,000 by a scammer posing as a friend on Facebook, and the 'Today Show' recently aired a segment about Sister Erma, a nun, whose Facebook was hijacked and used to dupe her friend Debbie Peterson in to handing over $3,000. The scam starts with spam messages that contain malcious links. People careless enough to click on these links, like the previously mentioned CooooL Video and FBAction messages, are either led to fake Facebook log in pages that steal your e-mail and password, or are infected with a keylogger that captures all of your usernames and passwords across several different sites. Once the scammers have collected this information they begin sending messages to friends and family of the hijacked account claiming to be in trouble -- in most cases stuck traveling abroad. The messages claim that the person has lost his or her wallet or been mugged and needs a loan (of several thousand dollars) to pay off hotel bills.
The scam has become prevalent enough that the FBI saw fit to issue a warning last week about the threat. In a press release, the Bureau cited reports from the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) that the number of hijacked accounts reported has increased dramatically. There have been only 3,200 cases reported since 2006, but we're sure at least as many (if not significantly more) have gone unreported to the IC3. The FBI provided a simple list of safety tips for avoiding becoming the next anecdote on Switched about someone losing thousands of dollars.
And remember our advice -- if you think your account has been hijacked, immediately warn your friends and family. Or if you find yourself on the receiving end of a plea for financial assistance from a Facebook pal, exercise some skepticism and confirm their identity before wiring any money. Then, please report the incident to the IC3. [From: Today Show, FBI, MSNBC]
Death of Print
Elle Girl
In April 2006, Elle Girl's print edition was closed down, but the Web site lives on at ellegirl.com.
CosmoGirl
Though it will be folded into Seventeen magazine, the teen version of Cosmopolitan will publish its last print issue in December 2008. It will live on at CosmoGirl.com.
Christian Science Monitor
Founded in 1908 by Mary Baker Eddy, this venerable paper will move all its daily content to the Web starting in 2009, though it will still publish a weekly print version.
Radar Magazine
Was it too snarky for its own good? We'll never know, but this modern-day successor to '80s-era Spy magazine shut down in October. AMI, owner of the National Enquirer, bought RadarOnline.com, however, which will focus on celebrity gossip a la TMZ.com.
US News and World Report
Once a serious competitor to Time and Newsweek, US News and World Report is now best known for its College guides, which it will continue to publish. The weekly newsmagazine, however, will be turned into a monthly, and all daily operations are moving to the Web at usnews.com.
_thumbnail.jpg "Vintage Keyboards")
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
katzeye said 7:02AM on 10-07-2009
If I'm about to send thousands of dollars to a friend, first of all, we'd have to be pretty freakin tight. Second. The very first thing I'd do is CALL them on the PHONE! " what? You were mugged? omg! Are you ok?" Third make sure I had the correct address on this so called really close friend!?!
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Millerson said 7:22AM on 10-07-2009
Exactly. Whoever is stupid enough to actually fall for this kind of scam, is probably stupid enough to fall for anything.
rockstartix said 8:05AM on 10-07-2009
I am selling something on the Facebook Marketplace now & so far, 2 scammers contacted me. Since I am an Ebayer, I am used to these scammers, but the ordinary person has not been confronted by the Nigerian cashiers check or the YahooUK parties yet..... If it sounds too good to be true.................. it is.
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Kris said 8:48AM on 10-07-2009
Are there seriously people out there that do this stuff? I mean, if you are computer literate enough to be on the internet and be on Facebook, then I'm SURE you've heard that there are scams out there.
The obvious thing is to call the person requesting money-What the heck were these people thinking when they just sent out money to whoever they thought they knew? If my best friend asked for $4000 I would HAVE to ask why-and it would HAVE to be in person or over the phone.
I wonder how many people fall for this stuff and are too embarrassed to come forward and say they did it, too.
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chililuver said 8:55AM on 10-07-2009
FBI also needs to get onto these jerk-offs who try to use these blog sites for free advertising of their crap. Just like the ones you see here today advertising their so-called millionaire dating site, etc. Anyone with common sense would understand that if someone was seeking out wealthy people to date, the last place you should look would be a place where people stole space for advertising. The New Yorker, etc. would be a place that would be more logical.
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James Emert said 9:04AM on 10-07-2009
Part of the problem is that the FBI and related agencies are not interested in stopping this crime, only prosecuting the violators after the fact. And clearly such prosecutions do not do much to deter the crime. Part of the problem is the IC3 method of reporting the crime, it is a long drawn out process that does not provide a place to forward the offending messages for action. And worse, it is a black hole; they expect you to report a crime but NEVER inform you that anything was done about it. This makes me speculate that they do nothing with the reports.
My recommendation is simple, contact the ISP instead. Especially if it is one of the more respected provides. Just forward the message, with the headers intact, and they often respond in an hour with a message stating that the offending account has been terminated. Granted, with free accounts it is easy to make another one. But any scams underway with that account will be thwarted.
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lloydsinfulworld said 9:23AM on 10-07-2009
why do pple use Nigeria to perpertuate scams? Everybody now uses Nigeria in any scam when we know that this scams are done all over the world. They do it in Africa, USA, Europe, carribean, latin america etc. But what baffles me is why many people fall for it despite the all the awareness? People, both the scamers and those scamed should learn not to be selfish and dubious because if these scamers don't get any positive replies from people they will have a rethink.
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AOLscams said 9:31AM on 10-07-2009
James Emert, your recommendation for contacting the ISP is worthwhile, but ISPs are notorious for making direct contact next to impossible. For example, how many people know how to notify AOL, or any of the other ISPs, re: comment spam (aside from the "report" button)? We won't get that info easily, because there's a corporate culture that implies insulating mid- and high-level executive management from the public. How well does AOL track and remove abusers who set up multiple comment accounts for keylogging and phishing from these spam websites? We'll certainly never find out, because AOL doesn't want us to lose confidence in them.
Finally, there's something missing from the equation: common sense. How stupid does one have to be not to realize that a web link in a comment post is nothing but trouble?
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largedude said 9:41AM on 10-07-2009
They're called "Nigerian" scams because many of them use the pretext of an African prince (from Nigeria, or some other nation) to fool the intended victim. They're really a democracy -- google it.
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KAIJAHZMOM said 10:21AM on 10-07-2009
A Nun witha Fb account? WOW!! lol
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JEANNIE said 10:49AM on 10-07-2009
I WAS THE VICTIM OF THIS NIGERIAN SCAM MONTHS AGO, AT WHICH TIME I REPORTED IT TO THE PROPER FBI OFFICE. WHY, HAS IT NOT BEEN ACTED UPON AND STOPPED ? THESE CRIMINALS HAVE NEVER CEASED TO CONTACT ME, AND STILL DO TODAY. IF THE FBI OR ANY OTHER AGENCY IS SUPPOSED TO BE PROTECTING THE AMERICAN CITIZENS, THEN WHY, WITH PROOF, DO THEY NOT STOP SOME OF THE CRIME?
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patient307 said 3:47PM on 10-07-2009
Basically, a lot of these people who run these scams are out of the country. If you note, in the article, they use the ruse that your "friend" is traveling and has been mugged and needs money for the hotel or airline fare. In the case of the Nigerian scam, it usually involves a wealthy person who died and their spouse doesn't have access to the deceased's account so they need your account to access their money. When these people hijack your account, they don't have to be in the USA to do it, they can be anywhere (and usually are) where there is a computer. The American authorities, including the FBI, don't have the jurisdiction to go to another country and arrest the scammer. At best all they can do is ask that country (if there is an extradition treaty) to send those scammers to the USA for trial. What are the chances that the Nigerian or Phillipine Police are going to look for a scammer on behalf of the USA. Nil.
sandpugs said 11:14AM on 10-07-2009
well i was hacked into and my friends called me to help me out..thank god my friends didn't fall into this..i called another friend to change my password and that night i was banned off facebook and now have been deleted when i was the victim.. hope the fbi catch these folks
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Lucilleie said 11:30AM on 10-07-2009
Really, how stupid does one have to be. Sending thousands of dollars to... umm.. WHERE? What does it take to make people wake up? If you don't care enough to LEARN how to use it, (FB or the internet for that matter) then you deserve what you get. Maybe we should start issuing licenses to be able to surf the internet! Like driving a car! Maybe you will have to have INSURANCE to do it.. Internet protection insurance! LOL.. now there's a new industry! I mean, come on, until the government controls the ENTIRE WORLD WIDE WEB... you will be exposed to gross misconduct! Keep your kids off the internet, DON'T give out ANY personal information. And don't go bouncing around clicking on links that YOU don't create or find yourself, or that don't come from verified senders.
It just seems so simple to me.
PLEASE take the time to educate yourself.
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ines said 11:45AM on 10-07-2009
I get at least 10 emails from everyone from the prince of nigeria, to a widow of a service man. If you figured out this is a scam (its been in the news forever). Here's what i do when i'm not sure of the person sending the email. Instead of clicking on the link - manually type the address - when it's a scam you get an error message saying the address doesn't exist.
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8LOVER said 12:07PM on 10-07-2009
Okay so NOTE to SELF.... don't be stupid enough to send anyone money if they post it on facebook...
LOL first of all if I was stuck somewhere my real friends would know about it, my family would know about it ......
secondly.. If I am in trouble I would call you, not facebook it... geesh. I love facebook and all but hey who can send me $100? I would ignore that post and hit the non existant dislike button.
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butch buss said 12:11PM on 10-07-2009
they should do away
with my space
and face book
they are all trash
big insecurity for the people who use them
you dont have to post your life cause your lonely or needing company
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Patty said 12:41PM on 10-07-2009
Always different countries wanna take from the U.S.
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Brian Smith said 12:46PM on 10-07-2009
West Africa has become a cesspool of scammers and thieves infecting the internet. If theres ever been a place to test WMD, this is it
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j said 12:58PM on 10-07-2009
the real question is why people continue to fall for these scams,have they not read the internet or seen 20/20 or dateline
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