An owner of a business Facebook page receives a message through the Facebook for Business dashboard. They see the message below from Support Pages and are urged to act quickly or else their page is going to be removed from Facebook. The digital following they have built and the hard work they put into their network will be gone. What should they do? Is it legitimate or is someone trying to scam them? This article will take a deeper look for the purpose of informing our audience on the latest threats online and how to spot them.
Summary
Is it a scam? Very Likely
- Method: Facebook Messenger
- Target: Business Pages/Business Page Owners
- Type of Scam: Phishing
Break it Down
Let’s take a look at key indicators to see if this message is a scam or not.
Who did it come from?
Facebook message, from “Supports Page”
This account will likely be removed from Facebook by the time you are reading this post (for good reason). However, one should be aware that this is from a user’s Facebook account and brings you to a profile (just like yours or mine) instead of directing you to an official support page. Always investigate who is sending you a message.
Generic Greeting?
“Dear Admin”
Facebook knows who owns each business page. This generic admin should be an early indicator that the message is suspect.
Urgent or Threatening?
This entire message is urgent and threatening. Words like “disabled” and “permanently deleted” invoke fear in the owner of a Facebook page. This is combined with urging the user to take action “within just a few minutes” to cause panic.
Spelling and Grammar Mistakes?
There are not many spelling or grammatical errors in this message. One we see in this message is “facebook” is not capitalized. Another is the strange copyright at the bottom of the message.
As bad actors get more sophisticated, with the use of AI, spelling and grammar mistakes are going to be less common. That is another reason to look at all indications of scams.
Suspicious Links or Attachments?
Looking closely, we notice the link in the message is a little phishy. Policies, in this link, is misspelled. This is an indication of a phishing link posing as a legitimate site. This sort of deliberate misspelling is referred to as typosquatting. Always check a link twice. When you see something off, do not click it!
Too Good To Be True?
This scam is not engaging with the victim to offer them a deal. This message is focused on fear instead of opportunity.
Conclusion
By looking at key indicators, this message received on Facebook is likely a scam and should be reported by the user. If you receive a message, such as this, it is recommended that you report the message and sender to Facebook. Reporting these scams helps to improve their ability to detect and take down scammer accounts. Blocking the account and deleting the message will help you avoid similar messages from this profile in the future. If you share access to the Facebook page and others may have received the same message, make sure to tell them to beware of the scam message.