INDIANAPOLIS —Scammers are stepping up their “malicious tagging” game on Facebook.
“Malicious tagging” is a growing Facebook scam in which scammers hack into your friend’s Facebook page and tag you in a post.
This week, the posts say things “I can’t believe he is gone, I’m gonna miss him so much ☹” and “It won’t be the same without him…”
Once you click on the post, the hacked account posts a link to what appears to be a video of a fatal traffic accident.
WRTV Investigates contacted Meta but we did not hear back.
In July 2023, WRTV Investigates reported on “malicious tagging.”
RELATED VIDEO | Malicious Tagging: A growing scam on Facebook
At the time, the links said things like “look who died in an accident… I think you know him” or “observe how they are around another spouse.”
They appear to be legitimate news reports, but they’re not.
Clicking on the link could allow the scammers to install malware onto your device.
In some cases, when you click the link, it takes you to a fake Facebook login page.
"It's a way to get your log in information, hack it and perpetuate the scam further or get your personal information loaded with your profile,” said Jennifer Adamany, Communication Director at the Better Business Bureau Serving Central Indiana.
The Better Business Bureau and the Indiana Attorney General’s Office both say malicious tagging is a growing scam on social media, especially Facebook.
“Facebook will allow you to log into other platforms through your account so it’s a uniform email password to log in,” said Adamany. “Scammers know that. So by getting into your Facebook, they can have better access to all these other accounts where you have personal information lying around that they can get to steal your identity, get access to your bank accounts.”
Douglas Swetnam, Section Chief for Data Privacy and Identity Theft at the Office of Attorney General, said the problem is on the rise because scammers can make more money than ever.
“The value of the Facebook accounts continues to be a hot commodity on the dark web market,” said Swetnam in 2023. "They're always trying to find new ways to trick people into providing their account information. People buy and trade Facebook accounts because it’s a great place to prey upon victims of other scams.”
How to Protect Yourself
- Beware of suspicious links
- Check the URL on the link
- Use multifactor authentication
- If you did click on something, quickly change your password
- If you’re tagged, remove the tag, report it to Facebook and delete it from your profile
- If your friend is hacked, don’t message them via Facebook. Call or text them.
