Beware!

Scammers are everywhere these days and now they are even hitting social media. When signing up for these sites, people do not realize the hidden dangers by just putting in their name and address. Many people believe links that they see on their feeds, posted by their friends and family but nowadays, how does one know what to believe? The problem with social media becoming affected by scammers is that people on these social sites are easy targets and usually believe anything they see, especially if the information is posted by whom they think is a credible source.  The Lansing State Journal states that "because of social media's popularity, scam artists have access to a much larger population of people that could potentially be tricked by one of their scams". (1). 

There are many scams currently going around social media sites from fake friend requests to links that want you to click on them. This in turn leads to being taken to sites that may contain vulgar content and may put a virus on ones computer. There are many links and apps that ask for certain information such as access to your contacts, photos, etc. How many times has one wondered why that information is needed yet clicks on the button to accept the terms?  Many scammers and hackers use any type of personal information to load viruses and worms on computers as well as steal ones credit and/or identity. According to David Massey  "A con artist can take advantage of how easily people share background and personal information online by using this information to make a highly targeted pitch." (Clifford 1). Protect yourself and do not so hastily put all your information out there without some thought as to who may get their hands on it.