Don’t Fall for the Facebook ‘Look Who Just Died’ Scam

There's a little tradition that exists among my friends and my sister, and some might call it a bit morbid. But actually, it's just an older-school form of relaying news.

Whenever a celebrity of note (and I guess celebrities ARE "of note" by definition) dies, we text each other--like when Tina Turner passed away last week. It's big news when an icon of that stature leaves us.

A Recent Facebook Scam That Plays on Our Emotions

So, naturally, folks are going to be drawn almost immediately to the phrase "look who just died." In all honesty, if I got a message like that from someone, I'd disregard it, at once, and for the reasons I've just described. Anyone I know would include the name. But this particular scam--and, yes, it's another in a long line of Facebook bullets users need to dodge--plays on our emotions, much like click-bait. Seriously, does it GET more click-baity than "look who just died"?

Facebook's 'Look Who Just Died' Scam

Here's how it works, complete with examples:

You know, until I began researching this latest annoyance, it didn't occur to me that this almost happened to MY Facebook account. Once it occurred to me what it was, I instinctively deleted the message, but I remember what it said:

I'm so sorry for your loss. I think you knew him?

And then it was followed by a link. Fortunately--for ME--those two sentences did not look anything like how my friend would have sent something like that if it were true, and I didn't click the link. Unfortunately--for HER--it meant she got hacked.

How to Protect Yourself From Facebook Scams

At the end of this video, Jordan Liles suggests doing what I've done, and that's setting up two-factor authentication. And I will tell you that Facebook's two-factor authentication does NOT mess around. But that's only because it's trying to keep you safe.

The best thing to do is change your password at least twice a year. Also, it's not a bad idea to NOT save it on your computer. I have my passwords saved elsewhere but always where they're handy.

We just have to continue being vigilant because, as we've just seen, scams are getting more and more clever all the time.

[SOURCE: tristatehomepage.com]