Avoid the Facebook Page Shut Down Scam
Marketing & Automation for Profitable Dental Implant Leads
Avoid the Facebook Page Shut Down Scam
If you have a Facebook Business Page, you are likely to be the target of a “Phishing” scam. You will receive an alarming message, which appears to be from Facebook/Meta corporation, informing you that your page is in violation of the Terms of Service or Trademark Infringement. You are warned that if you don’t take action right away, your Business Profile will be shut down, and you should click "The Link" immediately.
If you do click the scammer’s link, you will see the normal Facebook Login page, but your username will not be pre-filled in, or you were expecting to go right to the page since you were logged into Facebook Earlier in the day. It is very easy to make a fake website that looks very much like the “real” Facebook. The problem is that if you put in your Facebook/Meta username/password, now the scammer has your login information and can steal your profile, and page or try to use your identity in other ways.
This scam is called "Phishing," where the scammer sends out thousands of automated messages, hoping for a few people to click on the link and provide their username and password so they can access your account. Another variation would be to ask you to pay them money to avoid a penalty or being shut down.
This scam is so common, in fact, I personally receive a few dozen phishing messages every day, and I receive nearly daily calls to my office from frantic clients worried that they will lose the reputation and online brand we’ve built on social media.
Here are some of the indicators that it is a scam:
- The message comes to you, but the sender’s name is a normal name like “Steve” or “Francis”. A real message would say “Facebook” or “Facebook Business”
- There are grammar or spelling errors in the message
- There are funny characters like “Facebo0k Not1ce” in the message
- The link doesn’t go to fb.com or facebook.com.
- It shows up as a “Review” of your page or a normal post on your page’s timeline feed
I would try NOT to click on the link because there could be a tracking code that tells them that their message reached you and they should send you Phishing emails more often. It shouldn’t harm your computer or cause any damage but may increase the annoying Phishing messages.
The topic might be "Your page has been reported for copyright violation" or "Your page is using a fake identity" to get your attention. If you aren’t doing anything wrong, there should be no reason for this to happen. The message might say, “You can appeal this decision by clicking the link.” The theme of my warning is they are trying to use any tactic possible to get you to click the link.
An example message:
A password tool will protect you!
Personally, I like using the LastPass password tool to help me with my online passwords. It saves my passwords for all of my websites, so I don’t have to remember passwords. The benefit of the software is I can make up totally random passwords, and it will fill in that password for me on whatever website I’m on. I don’t have to worry about re-using similar passwords, and it’s convenient and saves me time during the day.
It will help me from Phishing Scams because even though the fake website might look EXACTLY like my Facebook Login, the software will know it’s not the same website. Instead of putting in my password for me, nothing will happen. At first, you might think the software isn’t working for some reason, but then you can look again at the domain name, and see that you aren’t on the “real” Facebook page, and you should leave the website immediately.
A few things you can do if you get a Phishing message:
- Do Not Click the Link if you can help it.
- Report the message to Facebook. If you wait a day or two after receiving a message, I’ll usually find that the profile has been deleted and the scammer’s account has been shut down.
- If you accidentally enter your password on a non-Facebook website, change your password immediately
- Enable Two-Factor Authentication. Even if they get your username and password, they will be locked out since they won’t know the text message sent to your phone (but still change your password to be safe).
- Facebook Help Center has many resources for helping to identify and protect yourself from these phishing scams.
Stay Safe!
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