Social Studies: New instagram scam and how to spot the red flags | 7 On Your Side
NEW YORK (WABC) -- Social media is a great way to connect and keep up with friends and family.
But now, from our kids to grandparents, not everyone may be able to recognize the signs of a scam.
7 On Your Side's Nina Pineda explains how a scammer contacted her daughter wanting to pay for her Instagram post and how she spotted the red flags.
You know we are in the selfie era and everyone wants to be Insta-famous, so here's how to spot the red flags if someone says they saw your photo, wants you to model, or wants to pay you for your picture. The first red flag is easy money! If it's too good to be true, it probably is!
From 2021 to 2023 the Federal Trade Commission reported that people lost $2.7 billion in social media scams.
That's why it's so important to stay safe and learn about the tell-tale signs of a scam.
Pineda's eldest daughter was targeted on social media and contacted on Instagram with a screen grab of her recently posted picture.
The pitch was to pay her to have an artist use her image to paint a portrait.
It sounded fishy but intriguing.
Luckily, Pineda was with her daughter when the picture was solicited.
Pineda asked her to play along with the ruse to see where it went.
First, she was asked for an email and then a phone number. So we gave them an email we use for spam and then made up a fake phone number.
The scammer didn't skip a beat. Requesting her bank name, not an account number, just the bank, which is weird.
Finally, they made their classic move which was saying they would send her $2,500; $500 for my daughter for using her image, and $2,000 for the artist, which my daughter was supposed to send by wire.
That's how they get you! Why? The $2,000 sent to the artist, would have come out of our bank balance.
The e-check they sent, would eventually bounce, but Pineda's money sent to the scammer would be gone!
"The digital world is full of dangers every day there are half a million predators waiting to prey on your children's misinformation and malicious content," said Dr. Zulfikar Ramzan, Chief of Consumer Digital Safety and Threat Intelligence for Aura.
Aura is an online safety resource offering protection from ID theft, scams, and online threats for the whole family. Dr. Ramzan recommends these steps:
"If you see an message which is unsolicited, assume it's something nefarious not benign. At some point you will make a mistake, think about defense end-to-end encryption, use a password, we can eradicate it and clean it up," Dr. Ramzan said.
There are a lot of family plans now from Aura, also there is McAfee, Lifelock, do some research and see what plan fits your budget best.
If you realize you've been scammed like this it is very tough to get that money back. Many banks say that since you initiated the transfer you are responsible.
However, contact your bank to stop any further damage and try to dispute the charge on your credit card.
Next report the social media account so that they can't continue to scam people. Make a post to your followers so that they can't be targeted as well.
RELATED: How to spot fake profile pictures on social media
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