
Hoaxes and scams on Facebook: How most of them work and spread - boni11
https://www.facebook.com/notes/lukas-stefanko/hoaxes-and-scams-on-facebook-how-most-of-them-work-and-spread/10154434947024252
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rhplus
_" Including one special case of scareware on Apple devices mistakenly
displaying Google Play information on iPhone device :)"_

This seems to be the same mode of operation as 419 scams. Bad grammar and
implausible fake UI do a good job of filtering out those people who are more
likely to know how to block the app and report it as spam after it is
installed.

~~~
acqq
I don't see it here as the "filter": they don't have any advantage of being
recognized as scam by some users. I estimate that these users capable of
"reporting" them properly still aren't potentially dangerous enough for them
to care.

~~~
kenbellows
Using bad grammar and obviously fake UIs is a pretty well-known technique
that's been used by Internet scammers and phishers for years to filter out the
savvier potential victims. It seems the motivation is not that smarter users
will report them or try to stop them, but that those who are naive enough to
miss the obvious signs of a scam are also far more likely to actually fall
prey to the scam, to send larger sums of money, and to possibly fall victim to
multiple scams. In essence, the bad grammar and fake UIs are used to make the
scammers more efficient. They don't need to waste time on people who will get
a few steps in, then cause them trouble or recognize the scam and back out; if
you don't see the clear signs up front, you likely won't notice any of the
later ones either. This is the same reason that the "Nigerian Prince" email
scam still survives.

Here's a research paper published by Microsoft on this very subject back in
2012: [https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/publication/why-
do-...](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/publication/why-do-nigerian-
scammers-say-they-are-from-nigeria/)

Here's a decent summary on Yahoo: [https://www.yahoo.com/news/study--obvious-
nigerian-scam-emai...](https://www.yahoo.com/news/study--obvious-nigerian-
scam-emails-appear-that-way-for-a-reason.html?ref=gs)

~~~
acqq
Yes I know, I responded to parent's "Bad grammar and implausible fake UI do a
good job of filtering out those people who are more likely to know _how to
block the app and report it as spam_ after it is installed."

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K0nserv
What's up with that hero image? It seems to have zero relationship at all to
the content. Is it just a case of "A/B testing shows women in bikini's on
beaches drive a lot of clicks?"

~~~
r1ch
At first I wondered what was up too, and noticed bad grammar throughout the
entire page. Then I realized this isn't actually an official Facebook post,
it's someone's blog post hosted on Facebook notes.

~~~
K0nserv
Oh I actually thought it was a official Facebook post, didn't know about
Facebook notes.

~~~
dogma1138
I think the only reply to you guys should be wait for it....

But this is probably the most meta post you can have on the topic of "How
scams and hoaxes are spread on Facebook? and video example" :)

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laurent123456
With all the deep learning algorithms probably running on FB's servers, how
come they cannot automatically detect these crude attempts at scamming their
users? It seems they all follow certain patterns - keywords ("virus",
"critical system error", etc.), a general alarmist tone, and a call for action
below.

~~~
ben_jones
I'm just guessing but their's probably some cat and mouse involved. If
facebook starts filtering one social engineering vector then they'll just
shift to another one. It's like banning bots in various video games, you do it
in random intervals in waves that obfuscate the exact cause and align nicely
with the company's bottom line and PR efforts.

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pornel
> If you were a victim of this or similar scams, here is how you can remove
> these malicious apps from your Facebook account.

That was disappointing. I hoped the article would end with "here's how we've
figured out how to detect and block these malicious apps automatically".

~~~
mingfli
Facebook will auto block malicious apps once it's detected. This article is
written by a researcher and not affiliated with Facebook.

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cyberferret
So, along with normal O/S level anti virus software, will we now start to see
companies coming up with sentinel software plugins on social media which will
keep tracking malicious apps on FB etc. and hide them from view in real time?

I am assuming products like FB Purity etc. tend to remove ALL extraneous posts
from your feed, but I am thinking someone might come up with one that can do a
real time filter either based on the source app, or else a grammar check of
the post text?

~~~
avian
Isn't it interesting how all these gardens have been walled up with the
(stated) purpose of providing a safe place, without the perils of viruses and
malware that supposedly thrive on more open platforms.

~~~
brownbat
Yeah, it's almost as if malicious activity follows users, and there's no
perfect security.

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netsharc
Grammar level: How is babby formed?

~~~
boni11
Sorry for grammar and all the mistakes I have made, I am not native English
speaker.

~~~
7Z7
I presumed they were talking about the scams, rather than your article.

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yousry
The title could be expanded by "are spread on the Facebook Network", since
websites, containing Facebook scripts, also scatter these phishing attacks. I
downloaded and reviewed several of them. Their code is at most mediocre but
they contain several surprises which I summarize at the moment.

What's certain is that Facebook always benefits from these scams (earnings via
ad impressions).

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peter303
Facebook itself!

~~~
acqq
Of course, as it's not directed to the technical people but to the users of
the Facebook that don't understand most of the technical details.

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gcb0
can't see the videos... is it just a link to install Facebook apps in your
account or does clicking the hoax link already install the app because
Facebook screwed up and forgot crumbs and such?

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coldcode
An article about Facebook scams and hoaxes which appears ... on Facebook.

~~~
nvr219
Why not? At least you don't have to log in to read it.

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Aelinsaar
My 70 year old uncle was almost scammed this way, but he doesn't keep anything
of value on his one computer, and when the scammer started to ask for SSN and
other info he figured out that he was being scammed, cut the guy off, and
cleared his computer. He's aware that he's not great with computers, but he
there's nothing wrong with his mind, or his common sense.

I think sometimes the training needs to be, "Beloved friend/relative, it's
inevitable that you're going to get got, but you can insure that when you are,
it won't matter."

------
icantdrive55
I didn't read the article. I do have an honest question. This is probally not
the time to take a half ass survey, but here goes:

To Facebook members; what exactly have you gotten out of the site. This
question is mainly geared towards Americans. I know in some countries FB is
your only way to get onto any Internet--FB version of the Internet, but it's
free--kind of--ads are not free.

So these questions are really directed towards U.S. Citizens; did you make any
physical friends by being on FB? Did you get any job offers? Did you get that
invite to the party? And the most important question, did you meet that
special someone you only would have meet through the social elite site of FB?

I know a lot of you keep in touch with friends/family, and they have news
feed, and that's a given, and wonderful--I guess?

I'm asking these questions because I am really not in FB demographics, and
really want to know. I know this will not be a balanced review of Facbook. I
just didn't think FB would still be growing in America at this date. I
actually shocked we are still talking about it. I know a handful of people who
deactivated, but not the numbers I was expecting.

(If offended, or feel this post is off topic-- I will remove it, and you have
my apologies. And yes--I know they are buying up competition.)

~~~
kayoone
Facebook helps a lot to stay in touch with people you meet while travelling,
ex-colleagues, or people you just occasionally meet in general and that you
don't have the phone number of.

~~~
hughperkins
It's not as good as Chinese wechat though, because it's really spammy: you
click on like, everyone can see. On wechat you only see photos, likes,
comments, from your direct friends. It is much more private. Once you've tried
it, it's kind of hard to put up with the very public nature of Facebook, I
find.

~~~
goldenkey
People use what they got. Most businesses accept American Express. So people
carry it in their wallets. Network effect. Facebook is a good meeting point.
Its hard to be pedantic on things that literally will kill minor
relationships.

~~~
hughperkins
Well, there's an opportunity. Five years ago, everyone in China used to use
qq, which is kind of like Chinese Facebook: everything public. Then wechat
came out, and now I never use qq any more, I mean, noone does.

~~~
mingfli
Both qq and wechat are owned by tencent.

~~~
hughperkins
They are. Not sure that changes my point much? The user database/registration
are entirely separate. There is no lockin being circumvented by virtue of both
being tencent.

