Scam: “Your Facebook page has been reported for lying…”

The person whose nose should be growing here is the person who sent you this text, email or Facebook notification (Photo by Jametlene Reskp on Unsplash).

I’ve received it twice: once by text, then again with a very convincing notification on my Facebook page. The unsolicited message says, “Your account (or page) has been reported by others for lying…” It prompts you to click on a link to verify your account.

STOP. RIGHT. THERE.

That’s the first clue something’s wrong. Facebook will never – ever – send you an unsolicited text, email or notification requesting you verify your account. Facebook issued you the account in the first place! It’s as much Facebook’s proprietary property as it is yours — no, it’s MORE Facebook’s property than yours. Just like your bank or credit card issuer, Facebook will never have a need to verify an account it issued to you in the first place.

Second clue: the word “Facebook” is typically never shown in the link. But there is one word that’s always in the link: andromeda. As in The Andromeda Strain, the 1971 movie directed by Robert Wise (no relation) about…wait for it…a virus. That’s a wink-wink, nudge-nudge hint that if you click on that link, you’ll launch a malware virus that may infect your computer, steal your personal information and take over your Facebook account.

“Spammers and scammers sometimes create phony emails or posts that look like they’re from Facebook,” wrote ‘Walter M’ of the Facebook Help Team to someone who received the notification and posted about it on Facebook’s Help Community thread. “These notices can be very convincing. If an email or post looks strange, don’t click any of the links in it or open any attachments, and please report it to us.”

You can report Facebook scam emails to phish@fb.com. You can click here to find out how to report a scam notification: https://www.facebook.com/help/199655413426788/?ref=u2u.

REMEMBER: neither Facebook nor any legitimate social medium will ever contact you to request account verification. Your account is THEIR account. They don’t need verification. They gave it to you.

And if you were really under investigation, Facebook most likely wouldn’t tell you until it has determined beyond a reasonable doubt there is questionable content on your page. Then they’d shut down your account before they contacted you, most likely by email from a named and verifiable source from the social media company itself.

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