Facebook helps scammers with the “like” shares

Images are appearing on Facebook and are helping out scammers with the “like” button shares.  It’s hard to not ‘like’ the image of the little girl that beat cancer or the Facebook super dad that is juggling his two daughters getting them ready for school.

These images are put out there to make these scammers cash.  Sometimes people in the photos don’t even realize their picture is circulating.

This image is from 2007 that has been shared thousands of times on Facebook. The girl’s family never gave permission for this photo to be circulated.

The photo above hit Facebook last year and popped up all over the world with messages of support.  The photo suggested to “Like” the photo if you care about the little girl.  Or “Share” to tell her she’s beautiful.

Facebook scammers use this farming technique to get people to feel guilty if they do not like or share the photo.  Sometimes the post says “ignore” if you don’t care, or “ignore” if you want her to die.

These tactics used for getting people emotionally involved, work.

Thousands of Facebook posts just like this are circulated everyday.

The Facebook Scamming Community

Amanda Rieth of Northampton, Pennsylvania said, “I was first shocked, and then infuriated,” when she found out about her daughters Facebook page post.

Her daughter was diagnosed with Stage IV neuroblastoma in 2007.  Reith’s daughter has been featured in local news segments for her fundraising efforts to be featured in segments for her fundraising efforts to fight cancer through Alex’s Lemonade Stand.

Amanda Rieth has always been a part of the decision to help publicize her daughters fight with cancer.  Never did she think this would happen.

Scammers do not care about at what cost these posts do to the people and families that fall victim to these farming scams.

When the page creators obtain thousands of likes and shares, they’ll strip the page and promote something else that they can get commission for selling.

Many sell the page through black-market websites to someone who will do the same.

This is a way to trick Facebook’s algorithm, it’s designed to give more value to public pages.  You will see scams and spam pages pop up overnight.

“The more likes and shares and comments and that sort of thing you have, the more likely it is to be seen by other people,” Senft said. “If they’re looking to sell the page in a black-hat forum somewhere, that’s what the value of the page is.”

 

The Facebook Scam Gets Worse

The “new” page is sometimes used to spread malware.  Malware is the software that is put onto a computer after it’s attacked for phishing.  This phishing tactic accesses credit card numbers, passwords, and other personal information through links to phony contests or charities.

This hurts many people and future posts, not to mention the reputation of Facebook.

There are Facebook farming posts the pertain to more than just sentimental people.

A recent page with a post that said, “Who loves French fries? Like & share if you do.”
Farming scams like this encourage foodies to get involved in the front.

If you come across these pages on your Facebook, pay no attention.  You may be helping the black-market and possibly falling for a phishing scam.

What “like-farming” scam have you come across?  Please share your experience with us below!

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References:
On Facebook, clicking ‘like’ can help scammers – CNN Tech
http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/21/tech/social-media/facebook-like-farming/index.html?hpt=te_t1