14 DAY TRIAL // Security experts have often warned about oversharing information on social media websites since scammers can leverage even apparently insignificant details and use them to con users.
More recently, crooks have started targeting grandparents who use Facebook and other similar websites to stay in touch with their grandchildren.
In some cases, the grandparents are told that their grandchildren are in jail. The con man tricks them into wiring over money that’s allegedly needed for bail.
In other situations, the fraudsters say that there’s been a car accident.
While the scam’s topic may vary, in most case, the scammers obtain information from Facebook to make their story as legitimate-sounding as possible.
Eric Kanefsky, acting director of the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, told CBS that over the past year, 70,000 Americans have fallen victim to such scams.
I’ve heard of these types of schemes taking place in a number of countries, including Romania, where some grandparents and even parents who overshared on social media sites ended up paying thousands of euros to scammers.