Scammed to death on social media | Scam of the Week

CHICO — It seems like social media has been awfully lively with death scams as of late.

One particular scam I’ve been seeing making the rounds is what I’m guessing is a phishing scam of some kind. I’ve probably seen it three times in the past two weeks alone.

You might be scrolling through Facebook and a post pops up from one of your friends that says something vague like “he will be missed” or “I can’t believe she’s really gone” with absolutely no context. So naturally, your first instinct might be to go to the comments and ask what happened but when you get there, your friend has already put a link in the comments.

I’m sure you know where I’m going with this already, but do not click that link. If you do, it will take you to a site that will more than likely lock you in, start collecting info and ultimately hack into your Facebook profile and share the exact same post in an effort to get others to click the link. It spreads like wildfire.

This is a scam that’s probably as old as social media. I remember these sketchy links popping up back in the days of MySpace. It grabs at your curiosity and fear to entice you into clicking. You might worry that someone you know passed away and the next minute you’re having to restart your phone or computer to get out of a webpage that is loading God knows what onto your device.

The best thing to do is avoid the post altogether and assume it’s a scam. If you are on the fence, you can leave your own comment, just don’t click any links replied or sent to you.

Stay safe out there folks and don’t forget your sunscreen and bug spray.

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Scam of the Week generally runs every Tuesday. Readers are welcome to contact reporter Jake Hutchison to report scams and potential scams they have come in contact with by calling 828-1329 or via email at [email protected].