If you see something online that you think is a scam, please report it to the platform.
Your experience online should be safe and secure. We remove content that purposefully deceives, willfully misrepresents, or otherwise defrauds or exploits people for money or property. Scams are constantly evolving, with criminals increasingly using advanced technology like Artificial Intelligence (AI) to make their schemes harder to detect.
The following tips and tools will help you to stay safe online and help keep your accounts protected.
About scams
Scammers target people to trick them into giving away money or sensitive information. Think of emails that offer a quick-and-easy investment scheme or an urgent text message from someone claiming to be a friend in need, or a phishing email claiming to come from a service provider to alert you of issues with your account and asking you to immediately click on a link to learn more.
They may create fake accounts pretending to be someone they are not or compromising existing social media accounts to try to deceive or defraud you or your friends out of money, personal information, or access to your account(s). Increasingly, scammers are using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to generate realistic fake photos, voice clips, and even video messages (deepfakes) that appear to be from real people.
Note: If you get a suspicious email or message claiming to be from a service provider, don’t click any links or attachments. You can view recent emails sent from the service in your account Settings.
How to protect your account
Scammers who try to trick people into sharing personal information, passwords, or credit card numbers typically do so via fraudulent emails, messages, or websites that might appear legitimate, such as a bank, email provider, or social media platform. More on common scams below.
To start, here are three simple rules to help you protect yourself when encountering a scam:
- Slow down: Scammers often try to create a sense of urgency or threaten you with losing your account or other action. Take time to ask questions and think it through.
- Spot check: Scammers often mention a problem to encourage you to act. Do your research to double check the details before clicking links or downloading files. Does what they’re telling you make sense?
- Don’t send: Scammers often pretend to be from a familiar organization; they may use an employee photo they stole from the internet to convince you. No reputable organization will demand payment on the spot, and no legitimate organization will ask for payment via cryptocurrency.
On social media and online marketplaces, look out for the following signs when considering whether to accept a friend request or respond to a message:
- People who you don’t know or famous people asking for money.
- Asking you for advance fees to receive a loan, prize, or other winnings.
- People claiming to be a friend or relative in an emergency (especially if the story seems unlikely).
- People asking you to move your conversation off the platform to encrypted chat apps.
- People claiming to want a romantic connection with you quickly and then asking for money.
- Messages or posts with poor spelling and grammar errors.
- A message asking for your urgent response because something is wrong with your online account.
- A message that simply asks you to log in with your social media, email, or bank account to read an important message about the services you use online.
- Accounts that have no friends, profile photo, or real-looking activity.
- Unverified video or voice calls: Even if you receive a video or voice message, be wary if it feels “off” or involves sudden requests for money. Scammers now use AI to mimic the voice or face of loved ones.
Tips to keep your account secure
- Don’t click suspicious links: If you get a suspicious email, text, or social media message claiming to be from a service provider, don’t click any links or attachments. First, check in your account settings whether it came from the official source.
- Do not download files or software coming from people you don’t know: Use caution when installing browser extensions and 3rd party apps, particularly when they offer functionality that sounds too good to be true or require you to log in with your credentials before even using them.
- Don’t answer and report messages that ask for your:
- Password
- Social security number
- Financial information like credit card numbers
- Cryptocurrency wallet addresses or private keys
- Strengthen your online security:
- Enable two-factor authentication (2FA) to add an extra security layer to your accounts across the internet. Two-factor authentication is one of the most effective tools for combating account compromise attempts.
- Never reuse your password across multiple websites.
- Use trusted antivirus software. It is important to keep this software up to date and scan your devices for malware regularly.
- Turn on login alerts so you’ll be notified if someone is trying to access your account. Be sure to review your previous sessions to make sure you recognize which devices have access to your account.
- Visit the Security Checkup Tool to help secure your account.
- For businesses: enable business notifications so you’ll be alerted of any changes happening within your account.
If you think someone has access to your account or you’re unable to log in, please visit the account recovery page to take steps to regain access to your account.
Learn more about how to avoid scams from online safety resources.
Common scams
- Investment scams: Scammers may promise unrealistic monetary benefits like offering to convert a small amount of money into a larger sum (example: $100 = $1000) and solicit money from you. Typically, scammers disappear with the payment. They often use AI to manipulate trading charts or market data to appear legitimate. Some types of false investment scams to watch out for include “cash flipping” scams, Ponzi schemes, “get rich quick” schemes, or fake cryptocurrency trading platforms.
- Romance scams: Scammers may send romantic messages to people they don’t know, often pretending to be divorced, widowed, or in a bad marriage claiming they are seeking a relationship. They may claim they need money or your information to purchase a flight or apply for a visa. Because their goal is to first gain your trust, they may engage in conversations for weeks or months before they ask for money. Beware of scammers who refuse video calls or claim their camera is broken to hide that they are using AI-generated images.
- Job scams: Scammers may use misleading or fake job postings to try and get your personal information or your money. Avoid job postings that sound too good to be true or that ask you to pay anything upfront before your application is considered. Be extremely wary of “work from home” or remote jobs that require you to relocate to a foreign country or sign contracts that restrict your movement, as these can be linked to forced labor or scam centers. When clicking on a link from a job posting, watch out for websites that seem unrelated to the original job posting or that ask for sensitive information (example: government ID) but don’t use secure (https) browsing.
- Lottery scams: Scammers may use accounts or Pages impersonating someone you know or a legitimate organization (such as a government agency) to claim that you’re among the only winners of a lottery which you can receive for a small advance fee. The scammer may ask you to provide personal information, such as your physical address or bank details to “verify your identity” before receiving your prize.
- Loan scams: Scammers may send messages and share posts offering instant loans at a low interest rate for a small advance fee. Once an initial payment is made they may ask for more money to provide a larger loan or simply end the conversation and disappear with the payment.
- Donation scams: Scammers may use online accounts pretending to represent charities, orphanages, or religious figures. They would then ask for donations.
- Inheritance scams: The scammers may claim to be a lawyer or representative of the state reaching out to you about the estate of a deceased person. They may claim that you’re entitled to the inheritance and ask you to provide personal information such as your physical address or bank details to receive such inheritance.
- Commerce scams: Scammers may claim to be selling goods and services online, often at a price that’s too good to be true, and they may try to convince you that you can get a better price if you move the conversation to other communications channels, like email or chat apps. Once you pay them, they would stop responding and the goods never arrive. They may try to create a sense of urgency to get people to act quickly to place an order and insist on payment via cryptocurrency, which is untraceable and cannot be refunded.
- Note: Although eligible items purchased via official onsite checkout systems may be covered by platform Purchase Protection Policies, most platforms do not offer refunds for any person-to-person or offsite transactions. Here are some shopping safety tips for using person-to-person transactions to purchase items via online marketplaces, especially if an item needs to be shipped. You can also learn more about the difference between buying something with official checkout and local pickup.
- AI and Impersonation Scams: Scammers are using generative AI to create realistic profiles, deepfake videos, and voice clones. You might receive a video message or voice note that appears to be from a friend or family member in distress, but it is synthetic. Verify any urgent requests through a separate, known communication channel (like a phone call to a known number) before sending money.
- Paid subscription services: Scammers may offer to purchase lifetime access to coveted subscription services for a one-time payment and then never deliver the product.