It was certainly a cruel summer for Taylor Swift fans who were scammed on Facebook. Fans of the pop superstar eagerly bought tickets to see their favorite artist, only to be hit with the harsh reality that they were duped. Not only did they miss out on Taylor Swift, but they likely lost hundreds of dollars in the process. The following is a run-down of the scam and what you can do to protect yourself.
Taylor Swift Scams Run Rampant
Facebook accounts get hacked more often than almost any other type of account. Hackers have various motives to steal Facebook accounts, and one of the main ones is to take advantage of a user’s friend base. They’ll pretend to be the person who was hacked and start to engage their friend list in scams.
Sometimes they message the friends and ask them for money. Sometimes they post fake items for sale. And sometimes, they try sell fraudulent Taylor Swift tickets. The latter trick has been rampant across Facebook over the past year or so.
Soon after someone is hacked, the hacker makes posts about selling Taylor Swift tickets, usually at a steep discount. Just from what we’ve seen from cases at Hacked.com, this grift appears to be one of most successful in terms of actually getting people to pay.
Why Has This Facebook Scam Been So Successful?
Hackers are constantly evolving their tactics but one rule remains true: the more emotional people get, the easier they are to manipulate. And it’s no stretch to say that people get really, really emotional about Taylor Swift. For good reason, no doubt. She’s the biggest musical act of her generation. But once people get that excited, they generally think less critically. They may start to miss the signs that they’re walking into a trap.
Hackers generally use the emotion of fear to scare people into taking action, as they’ve been doing with the Pegasus scam. But, as we’ve seen from the Taylor Swift example, excitement works just as well.
These tickets are often sold at a fraction of the real price, and instead of pausing to question why, many Swifties just rush to pay for them. These hackers usually put a short expiration date on the offer, just to give potential targets even less time to think.
How to Protect Yourself Against Phishing Scams
Here are a a few tried and true rules when it comes to protecting yourself against phishing attacks like the Taylor Swift scam:
- Be aware of your emotional reaction. If you find yourself either very excited or fearful from a post or message you see on social media, stop and take a breath before acting. Hackers love it when people act emotionally. If you pause and take a few moments to question what you’re reading, you’ll have a much better chance at staying protected.
- Always check the sender. If you receive a message via email that seems even slightly off, always check who sent the message. It’s often an email that’s not legitimately associated with the site that’s being impersonated, as seen in the Instagram copyright scam. If the ‘sender’ is simply a Facebook friend making a strange post, check in with them and ask them questions that only they would have the answer to.
- Exercise Caution with Links: If an email or post seems questionable, take a screenshot and run it through scam detection software, such as the one featured in the Don’t Get Hacked app. Never click on an unfamiliar link directly.
If you think you’ve been hacked, please schedule a session with us at Hacked.com.
Featured image from Wikimedia Commons.