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Scam Prevention Specialists
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An inside look at how social media phishing scams work

… And how to avoid them

Annotated screenshot of a fake Facebook notice titled 'Deadline in 08 Hours', pointing out the urgency, the wrong web address and the tagged accounts.

Fun fact about social media phishing scams — they tend to come in waves. Once companies like Meta see a pattern, they shut it down across the board. And that works, until the scammers figure out a new take on that game and it starts all over again.

We are seeing that wave again now — this page has been hit with five phishing attempts so far today. Obviously, these are mostly AI and bots now — anyone who takes the time to read the page would probably not waste the time. For one thing, it’s not going to work, for another, we always report them to Facebook.

Most social media phishing scams work on the same basic format — you get a fake warning that your account is suspended or going to be suspended.

We have illustrated exactly how this works below with an actual phishing attempt against one of our Facebook accounts.

And remember Rule No. 1: It’s always a scam (especially with these Facebook warnings … always).

And a quick reminder, never do what we did here, just ignore the phishing attempt. Interacting in any way, even reporting it to Meta, can put you on the scammer’s radar. We are professional scammer botherers.

Part 2: the scammers' fake Facebook page, titled like a warning, with posts that tag businesses so the 'warning' shows up in their notifications.
Part 3: clicking the link opens a look-alike 'Your Account Will Be Restricted' page on a non-Facebook web address.
Part 4: a fake Meta page asks for your email and password, and usually asks for the password twice.
Part 5: the fake page asks for your two-factor login code or 8-digit recovery code, which is what lets them get around the extra security.
Part 6: you are redirected to Facebook's real privacy policy so all seems well, while the scammers wait to take over the account in the middle of the night.