I have noticed that a few people have created new Facebook accounts because they said that their old account was hacked or there is a problem with it. In some cases, people say that they can no longer access their old accounts.
This can get confusing because there are also fake accounts that look like the original accounts. All of this is part of scams, for example, I had a 'friend' ask to borrow money. It is always strange when you get friend requests from people who are already friends, meaning that these new friend requests are likely from fake accounts. And if they are not fake accounts then you need to verify that these people are who they say they are.
So today I encountered a scam. One of the hacked accounts had been talking to me briefly for a few days making small talk. At first, I was fooled thinking that I was talking to my friend in Salt Lake City. Then today the account tried to pull a scam that went like this:
I was immediately suspicious. I have seen many scams as a seller on Craigslist that will claim that they want to verify your identity with a code number and that you have to message the code number back to them. What they are actually trying to accomplish is to do a password reset on your account, which requires a code verification, so if you give them the code then they will be able to change your Craiglist password and take over your account. Then they can use your account to scam other people.
So I realized this Facebook scammer was doing the same thing trying to take over my Facebook account. I contacted my friend on his new account and he verified that this other account was not him. However, I took this one step further. I told him that I didn't know which account was the real one, the old or the new, so I asked for his phone number so that I could call him and verify his identity. As soon as he answered the phone, I knew that I was talking to the real person.
I blocked the bad account and reported it to Facebook as someone impersonating a friend.
This can get confusing because there are also fake accounts that look like the original accounts. All of this is part of scams, for example, I had a 'friend' ask to borrow money. It is always strange when you get friend requests from people who are already friends, meaning that these new friend requests are likely from fake accounts. And if they are not fake accounts then you need to verify that these people are who they say they are.
So today I encountered a scam. One of the hacked accounts had been talking to me briefly for a few days making small talk. At first, I was fooled thinking that I was talking to my friend in Salt Lake City. Then today the account tried to pull a scam that went like this:
He said that he was trying to install Facebook on his phone, but he needed a code number to finish the installation. He said that Facebook required that the code be sent to a second phone number, which makes no sense, and asked if he could use my phone number. I had already inadvertently given this person my phone number because I had asked him to give me a call so that we could chat.
I was immediately suspicious. I have seen many scams as a seller on Craigslist that will claim that they want to verify your identity with a code number and that you have to message the code number back to them. What they are actually trying to accomplish is to do a password reset on your account, which requires a code verification, so if you give them the code then they will be able to change your Craiglist password and take over your account. Then they can use your account to scam other people.
So I realized this Facebook scammer was doing the same thing trying to take over my Facebook account. I contacted my friend on his new account and he verified that this other account was not him. However, I took this one step further. I told him that I didn't know which account was the real one, the old or the new, so I asked for his phone number so that I could call him and verify his identity. As soon as he answered the phone, I knew that I was talking to the real person.
I blocked the bad account and reported it to Facebook as someone impersonating a friend.
Never give a code number (or password) to a person in a message or email. It is a scam.
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Best wishes,
John Coffey
http://www.entertainmentjourney.com
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Best wishes,
John Coffey
http://www.entertainmentjourney.com
