If it seems like the scammers and hoaxsters never take a break from Facebook, it’s because they really don’t.
At any point in time there are numerous scammers sitting around trying to think up new ways to scam innocent Facebook users.
And as is usually the case, there’s a particularly dangerous scam making the rounds right now via Facebook Messenger.
But luckily, as dangerous as this scam is, it’s extremely easy to recognize and avoid it when you see it.
There are several variations of this scam, but they all work basically the same way. Here’s what you need to look out for…
You open your Messenger inbox and find a new message that appears to be from one of your Facebook friends.
The message contains what appears to be a video, and the teaser image on the video will likely be a photo that the scammer copied from your collection of uploaded Facebook photos.
There will usually be some text above the video that reads something like one of the following:
“Hey, I saw this video. Isn’t this you?”
“Is this you?”
“Is it you?”
The exact wording of the message varies a bit, but it always asks if you’re the person that’s featured in the video.
Of course the natural instinct is to watch the video to see if it really is you that’s featured in it. Whatever you do, don’t click on the video to watch it. If you do, one of several things will happen:
1 – You will be taken to a realistic-looking, but fake Facebook login page. If you enter your login information on that page you’ll end up handing over your Facebook login credentials to a hacker/scammer.
2 – You will be taken to a malicious web page that will attempt to infect your device with malware.
3 – Both number 1 and 2 will happen at the same time.
4 – Some other negative consequence will happen (the scammers and hackers are very creative and they change their tactics almost daily).
As you can see, the best course of action when you receive one of these malicious “Is it you?” messages is to simply delete it without clicking on anything that’s contained in the message.
If you do happen to slip up and click on the video or a link in one of these messages, I recommend that you do the following right away (and in this order):
1 – Enable Two-Factor Authentication on your Facebook account (if it isn’t already enabled).
2 – Change your Facebook password. This post explains how to create a password that’s extremely secure, yet easy to remember.
3 – Follow the directions in this post to thoroughly scan your Windows PC for viruses and other forms of malware.
Bottom line: The “Is it you in this video?” scam is very dangerous, but it’s also very easy to recognize and avoid.
As always, it’s very important to remain ever vigilant when you’re using Facebook and/or Messenger.