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Guernsey Police are again reminding people to not send bank details to others through social media and to check the legitimacy of online accounts after a “large number of reports” of individuals being scammed through “quizzes, puzzles, or questionnaires”.
It says if an offer of cash or a prize seems too good to be true “it probably is”, and pressure to provide payment urgently should be resisted.
“Facebook Pages can be particularly susceptible to these scams, and they can be prominent in buying and selling groups. The scammer may have even obtained access to an account held by someone in Guernsey in order to make it look more legitimate,” it said.
“Once you’ve answered in the comments section, you’ll be contacted through messenger that you’ve won a prize and to claim your prize you have to pay money first or they offer another chance of winning through payment.
“Another scam which has been prevalent recently in the Bailiwick sees scammers impersonating someone’s child and asking for money to help them in an emergency. This scam is often carried out via WhatsApp."
Pictured: Examples of Facebook scams reported to Police recently.
The best practice for dealing with scams is:
“Officers are also aware of other Facebook posts looking to exploit your personal data by obtaining information that could help them gain access to your accounts either by guessing passwords or other security details,” it added.
“What can seemingly be an innocent post asking what your first car was, could be highlighting your profile and security answers to a potential scammer.”
More information on dealing with scams can be found HERE.
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