Facebook death notices: How to spot phishing attacks hitting social media users
It's phishing season.
That's not a typo or play on words, hackers are on the prey using various tools – including emotional pleas on social media – to gain access to your personal information or at the very least your contacts.
Among the the latest scams is a Facebook post asking people "Look who died?" or "I can't believe you're gone. May you R.I.P" A clicked link to a Facebook login page and two fields filled out and a hacker has access to your Facebook page. Now, you have a bigger issue.
The best defense to this scam is not clicking the link. But how do you know what's phishing and what's real? Here's some help.
What is phishing?
According to Facebook, phishing is when someone tries to get access to your accounts by sending a suspicious message or link that asks for your personal information. If they get into your account, they may use your account to send spam.
How to avoid scams: Delawareans lost nearly $23M in scams in 2023. Here's how to avoid getting duped in 2024
How to identify phishing attempts
According to Cofense Email Security, there are nine key signs in spotting phishing emails:
An unfamiliar tone or greeting
Grammar and spelling errors
Inconsistent email addresses, links and domain names
threats or a sense of urgency
Suspicious attachments
Unusual requests
A short and sweet email
The person receiving the email didn't initiate the conversation
Request for personal data
However, it's a little different to spot phishing on Facebook. The social media site gives these tells to spot phishing on Facebook.
Don't trust messages that demand money, offer gifts or threaten to delete or ban your account.
Don't click suspicious or mysterious links
Don't respond to requests for personal information like credit card numbers, Social Security numbers or passwords.
Facebook also suggests receiving alerts about unrecognized logins and using two-factor authentication. The social media site also pointed out that emails regarding your account will only come from these addresses:
fb.com
facebook.com
facebookmail.com
What to do if you've been phished on Facebook
According to Facebook here's what you should do if you're a victim of phishing.
If you can log into your account, reset your password, and log out of all devices you are not familiar with.
If you notice strange activity, review recent activity and check recent emails sent by Facebook
If you cannot log into your account, you can recover it, by doing the following:
Use a mobile phone or computer that you've used to access Facebook.
Go to the Find Your Account page at facebook.com/login/identify and follow the instructions.
Search for the account you wish to recover. You can search by name, email address or phone number
follow the on-screen steps to reset your password.
This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Facebook death notices are latest phishing attack on social media