5 Tips & Tricks To Avoid Facebook Phishing Scams

We’ve already warned readers about a few of the more recent Facebook phishing scams, but it would seem that a new scam is coming out for every new member that joins the site. While it’s best to stay vigilant and read up on the latest scams to avoid, there are a few other tips that will keep you ahead of the game, protecting your profile 24 hours a day.

With all of your personal information and photographs posted on Facebook, the last thing you want is to find that your account has been hacked or accessed without your permission. We’ve put together a list of ways that you can protect yourself from the latest scams, making sure that your Facebook account is never compromised. Also be sure to check out Tina’s article on how to get instant alerts about the latest threats, whether on Facebook, or anywhere else on the web.

Follow The Sophos Blog

Antivirus developers, Sophos, report on the latest Facebook phishing scams practically on a daily basis on their blog, Naked Security. There seems to be no limit to the rogue applications preying on people’s curiosity, or the desire to activate certain features on their Facebook profiles through these apps. Sophos is one of the best sources today when it comes to Facebook scams.

SafeGo

BitDefender’s SafeGo is a Facebook application designed to keep users aware and protected from spam and any kind of threat that might be floating around Facebook. SafeGo scans your profile for any suspicious links, and you also have the option of allowing the app to automatically post a comment to your wall when a threat is detected.

Facebook Security

Another place to find tips and tricks to stay safe on Facebook comes directly from the source. Facebook’s Security page is constantly being updated with ways to protect your account.

Look For The Signs

Aside from all of these tips and tricks, the most important thing that any person can do is use common sense. See who it was that posted the link and ask yourself how likely it is that they would share something that begins with OMG You won’t believe this! or would they really write to you, through Facebook of all means, if they were stranded in a strange city?

If you receive emails that claim to be from Facebook, always analyse the email address they came from and the link they want you to click. Facebook notifications always come from Facebookmail.com.

What To Do If You Unwittingly Clicked That Link?

If you feel that you may have been the victim of a Facebook phishing scam, the first thing you should do is change your Facebook password. If you’ve linked your Facebook account to other online services, it would probably be best to change the passwords to those services as well.

If you’ve granted permission to an application, you can revoke permission through your privacy settings. Navigate to your Privacy Settings, and at the bottom of the page, click ‘Edit your settings‘ under Apps and Websites.

You will be taken to a page featuring the latest apps you’ve authorised. Click the ‘Edit settings‘ button.

From there you can delete any apps that you have mistakenly authorised by clicking the small ‘x’ next to the app.

How do you keep your Facebook profile safe? Have you been the victim of any phishing attacks? How did you deal with it? Let us know in the comments.