RIP-OFF ALERT: Ads promising free Southwest Airlines tickets or the chance to win a free iPad 2 that show up in your Facebook news feed are two of the most pervasive scams in the social media world.
Unfortunately, too many people have taken the bait and sent the ads to their friends. Clicking on the ad will infect your computer with a virus. Worse still, the virus can turn a computer into a bot that can then be used to infect everyone on your Facebook list.
You have got to be the cop on the beat when it comes to this ongoing problem. From the reading I’ve done, there is nothing Facebook can do to shut down the scamsters because of the ease with which they can enter their ecosystem.
If you’re a heavy Facebook user, you’re probably familiar with requests for permission. You have the opportunity to allow or not allow Facebook to access your information, your profile and more. The scamsters have realized trying to tap into your computer is much harder than trying to make you fall for an alluring ad that can compromise your permissions.
Be wary whenever you allow someone gateway access because nothing good can come from that!
