Scheduled for Deletion Scam

Another scam is making the rounds on Facebook; this time the owners of pages are being sent messages warning that the page is scheduled for deletion due to copyright violation, with a link to follow to prevent deletion of the page.

In dealing with scam messages like these, never click on the links they provide, as they will take you to a malicious site designed to look ‘official’ and thus trick you into downloading harmful software or providing valuable information such as login details.

Like many scams, this one relies on scaring the target into doing what they want, and manufacturing time pressure to make users act for fear of losing something important to them. If you get a message like this, it’s vital to verify that the person contacting you is genuine. In addition to the urgent time pressure, other common signs of a scam message include asking for personal information or demanding payment. Scams fishing for personal information are so common that many websites warn users that their official staff will never request personal information, so any message that does ask for such information is not genuine.

If you’re getting messages like these, the safest course of action is to double check that it’s genuine. Official messages from Facebook will be either from an official email address, or through Facebook’s official support messaging. If you have any suspicions about a message, reporting the account it comes from is a good idea, and scam accounts are quickly removed once brought to the attention of genuine Facebook staff.

If you have any concerns about a message you’ve received, or think you may have been scammed, just get in touch.