Every year millions of Facebook users encounter various types of online ad scams, those scams can come in the form of applications that steal user information or through direct click links among other attempts. PC protector BitDefender has taken the time to share with us an infographic that showcases the top 5 Facebook scams and how they target their users.
Among the most interesting facts gathered, 34.7% of all Facebook scams come in the form of “see who’s following you” and other profile traffic insight scams, while 16.2% arrive from social gaming (with the likes of Cityville) and 14.1% come from “shocking images” that entice users to click-through to witness what ends up being some type of malware or other scam.
The graphic also showcases some of the most popular words used in Facebook scams, including (but not limited to): Wow, profile, killed, OMG, stalker, video, busted, stripping, cash, Zynga and pounds. Basically if the word entices you to want more money, lose weight or think in a sexual manner, there’s a chance it could be a scam.
Towards the bottom of the graphic BitDefender also showcases the top five most targeted countries for click traffic scams which includes (in order from highest to lowest): USA, India, UK, Australia then Canada.
Here’s the full Facebook Scam Infographic:
None of this really surprises me, but it’s still interesting to see it all put down on paper.
What Facebook scams have you fallen prey to?
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Surprisingly 2 c Canada in top 5 busiest clicking!
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Thank you for sharing this post. Well scammers now a days find different ways to scam, sad to say that even the biggest social media is an accessory to there crime.
Treb
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I didn’t realize that there was so much spam and scams on Facebook. I will definitely be more careful in the future. This is a great article that I’m sharing with all my friends on Facebook. I don’t want anyone else to fall victim.
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Very nice infographic. I like how detailed and comprehensive it is even with its simplicity. I always see my friends in Facebook posting the “Who views my profile” and I admit that I was also tempted but because there aren’t lists, like any other survey apps, I thought that this may not be true.