Avoiding Instagram & Twitter Money Scams

Michelle Wilson - August 11, 2020

You know the old saying – “As grows the internet, so grows the scams.” It’s an age as old as time itself really. And as social media scams go they are far more of an issue on Facebook and WhatsApp. That said, Twitter and Instagram are for sure gaining popularity in the dark world of money scams, and their victims are paying the price in a big financial way

Here’s a statistic that’ll make you think twice about just how savvy you think you’d be when dealing with scammers via social media: According to a Stanford Center on Longevity study in 2019, 91% of social media users who have been contacted by a scammer, engaged with them, and 53% became financial victims.

If your immediate reaction is “Yikes!”, you’d be well within your faculties. It suggests that most of us need a little brushing up on what it is to look for when it comes to these money scams. Well it just so happens you have come to the right place.

The Instagram Scams

Alright so typically speaking, Instagram money scams take place when someone creates a fake profile, or even worse, is able to get into an account you are following. They then proceed to employ the account to trick you into divulging your personal data, and ultimately hoping to syphon money out of you.

Impressively, Instagram boasts over 1 billion active users, and it is absolutely infested with scammers looking to find new ways to reach their victims.

Skeptical about how prevalent it really is? Look no further than to Instagram itself who regularly offers tips and suggestions on how to avoid the nasties that they know exist within their network.

Spotting The Instagram Money Scams

• The Money Flipping Scam

  This is a spin on the old “Want to buy a bridge?” routine. Typically the scammer will approach you with an amazing investment opportunity. Throwing around hot words like “cryptocurrency” and while displaying false return reports. But as soon as you send the investment, they magically disappear.

• Fake AID

  These will usually ignite following a natural disaster somewhere around the world. Fake accounts will be set up to appear as they are legitimately affiliated with well-known aid organizations in order to try to elicit charitable donations from you. The big snag here is that typically you never know as you make a donation and move on feeling pretty good about yourself. Rarely do we call and follow up on our donations.

• The Lotto Scam

  You’ve been alerted that you are the winner in an online lottery and a prize is waiting for you. The catch? You first have to pay some sort of fee in order to unlock your prize. Or in some cases they need the money to ship you your price/cash. You pay and again, you never hear from them again.

• Loan Scams

  If you are ever offered some kind of instant loan program on social media. Know it’s absolute nonsense. But in these cases, you are offered an instant loan for a small advance fee. That loan will never be seen.

• Roses Scams

  a scammer will have a sob story to rely on. Maybe they are recently divorced, or their spouse has passed away. After sending and receiving romantic messages from you, they’ll start asking for cash.

• Job Seeker Scams

  What easier way to collect unsuspecting data than to post a fake job and direct people to their website to fill out forms. You may even be asked to pay a fee for premium placements. Unless it’s a trusted job site, I’d steer clear.

What To Do When Approached

• Under no circumstances should you ever accept any kind of money request from someone you do not have some sort of relationship with. Never send someone you don’t know payments. It’s silly this even needs to be typed.
• Don’t allow yourself to be pressured. Their goal is to get money out of you as fast as possible. Just slow things down a bit.
• Never share your information with anyone you don’t know. Especially really sensitive data such as your social security number, credit card data, passwords, bank info etc.
• Research the accounts that are contacting you. You can use CheckPeople to do online people searches on individuals who have contacted you to ensure that they are who they say they are. That they do not have a criminal history and that everything matches up as presented. It’s always good to dot your I’s and cross your T’s.