14 DAY TRIAL // After the hoax that claimed Facebook would be shut down soon because its CEO Mark Zuckerberg was too stressed, and the one which warned users that they have to pay for their membership, the latest hoax notifies the social media site’s customers that starting with April 2012 they will have to provide Social Security Numbers when logging in.
Hoax Slayer reports that the whole thing went viral after a site that offers satirical humor published a story on the subject.
“Facebook will Require Social Security Number for Member Log In. [LINK] Today, Facebook announced a new procedure to address the recent wave of spam that has plagued the website. Starting April 2nd, users will be required to enter their social security numbers to log in to their Facebook accounts,” reads the message that’s been scaring users in the past days.
In reality, the site that offers the story, Free Wood Post, is similar to the Weekly World News that not long ago wrote some articles that caused panic.
The site’s banner clearly reads “News that’s ALMOST reliable,” but as in many previous cases, those that launched the rumors on Facebook didn’t bother to check out the validity of the story, or they may have intentionally wanted to create panic.
The customers of social networking sites are advised never to forward messages that issue warnings without checking out their legitimacy.
It’s true that the whole purpose of websites such as Facebook is to share content, but that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t stop and think before posting phony messages, or even worse, posts that lead to fake codecs or other malicious elements.
Also, we’ll take this opportunity to remind everyone about the ongoing campaign that urges Facebook members to refrain from sharing, linking or commenting on posts that display pictures of sick children allegedly because major companies donate money for each of these actions.
When encountering malicious or phony posts, users are recommended to report them to Facebook using the Report button.