The Nigerian Scams Have Hit Social Media- What's next?

If you have been using email for any length of time, you have no doubt recieved countless emails from Nigera, the UK and other foreign countries from scammers announcing that you have won thousands in some cases millions of dollars but you must first pay a fee to claim it. While most of us have enough common sense to immediately delete these emails, since they are still sending them one has to ask the question, Does anyone fall for these? Apparently some people must or they wouldn't send them.

However, it would seem that they are not working well enough. About a month ago there was a big deal online about the Facebook phising problem where scammers where sending out links to pages that when clicked on would steal your password. Well, now these scammers are taking their fraud to a whole new level.

A few weeks ago I had a friend on Facebook from Africa who kept sending me emails claiming that he needed money to pay for his dad's funeral. Well, even though it was a bit different than the other scams I have seen, I knew something was fishy. I finally had to delete him as a friend since he wouldn't leave me alone.  Today I was watching Andrew Lock's Help My Business video show and he was talking about how a friend of his had a scammer try to get him via Skype by telling him he had a business proposal for him and then he proceeded to tell him he wanted to give him his share of the millions as is typical for these proposals. This man then told him up front that he was a scammer and he even admited to it. Wow!

What will these scammers do next?

One can only guess what they will try but in any case, here are a few words of wisdom to help you avoid them and to get them out of your circle of influence on Social Media.

1. Unfriend or unfollow anyone who sends you outragious proposals or who tries to get you to pay upfront in exchange for winnings or your share of the money.

2. Be careful about who you let into your social media network. Although if you are using social media for business, you want to befriend and network with as many people as possible, you still need to use caution and if your instict tells you to run, then run.

3. Avoid giving out too much personal information. This may be obvious but I still see people every day who give out too much. One example, is your birth year on Facebook. Although you are required to give this to Facebook when you register you do not have to show it on your profile. Also do not tell people when you will be gone out of town. There are stories of people being robbed from posting this information on Twitter. Showing photos of your trip are fine, but just do not let people publicly know when and where you are.

4. Communicate via phone in addtion to email with anyone with whom you are considering a business transaction. This will help you weed out scammers as many of them will not be willing to talk with you on the phone.

5. Us a PO Box for your address or the address of an office instead of your exact residence whenever possible.

6. Use common sense. If it seems too good to be true, then it probably is. Always being on guard and knowing that scammers are on social media too can help keep you safe no matter what comes next.

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