FAKE MEDIA SCAMS

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n the modern era, various social media are expeditiously revolving around us. Social media have changed the way the human interact. Our lives have become increasingly public even though we try to bound ourselves for sharing personal information. Personal information is today’s currency. Information on what you like, where you go, whom you are friends with, any information that describes, who you are is valuable data. The more someone knows about you, the more vulnerable you are. And it’s easier for someone to manipulate you or launch an attack on you when you have private information on an individual.

With everyday newer technology crawling its way into our lives, it comes with different pros and cons. 2019 has seen worldwide social media users grow to almost 3.5 billion. Facebook and YouTube have a staggering 2 billion active users, Instagram and WhatsApp have more than 1 billion active users, and LinkedIn and Twitter have more than 300 million users each and still counting.  Even though these online platforms have become our primary source of entertainment and indispensable part of our lives, they can pose serious threats if we aren’t careful. Scammers abound on social media.

With so many active users, popular social sites are scammer’s paradise. Scammers will entice you into clicking by posting sensational and emotional breaking news stories, sometimes capitalizing on a recent news event, or making up a fake, shocking new story. Their motive is to exploit these stories for any kind of possible financial gain.

There are several different types of tactics, scammers will use to try to lure into taking the bait. For example: - impersonating victims or family members of tragic events, selling souvenirs or memorabilia while claiming the proceeds will go directly to the charity, or by posting photos and videos and the event. As users, we should be wary of any activity which is not created by us on our social networking and digital platforms. Precaution is the only way by which we can save our digital world.