Beware Facebook ‘like-farming’ scam, BBB warns

Published May 03, 2016

File photo. (REUTERS/Dado Ruvic)

Social media users should be on their guard against a scam called ‘like-farming’ that uses fake Facebook pages as bait, according to the Better Business Bureau.

“Like-Farmers create a Facebook page to lure people into liking or sharing the page,” explained the Central Indiana Better Business Bureau, in a statement. “Once the page creators have piled up hundreds of likes and shares, they may strip the page and promote something else, such as products that they will receive commissions for selling.”

The initial Facebook page could be, for example, a story that tugs at the heartstrings such as a little girl suffering from cancer.

Heartless scammers, however, could use the con to gain access to information on users’ personal Facebook pages. “They may also sell the page and information that was collected from the ‘likes’ with a more direct threat of gaining access in an attempt to gather credit card numbers that may be stored for certain Facebook apps, passwords or other personal information,” warned the Better Business Bureau..

New pages created from the gathered data could also be used to spread malicious software.

BBB’s across the U.S. are reporting ‘like-farming’ incidents, according to Fox 59.

URL

https://www.foxnews.com/tech/beware-facebook-like-farming-scam-bbb-warns