Facebook "Likes" Help Scammers
A young 7-year old girl who was previously diagnosed with Stage IV neuroblastoma has a picture that was leaked out all over Facebook. The image that is leaked shows the young girl in a cheerleading uniform with pompoms surrounding her. Her bald head is an indication of her chemotherapy treatments. The image was exposed on Facebook last year, asking for likes and support for the young girl. Truth be told, the image was about six years old. Both the young girl and her parents had no idea that the photo was released on Facebook and was being used to get likes. Her parents never even posted the image on Facebook.
Pictures that seek for sympathy, like the one of the young girl, are shown all throughout news feeds. These pictures could be used to merely boost the ego of a stranger. On the other hand, scammers and spammers may be using Facebook as a source of earning money. Thinking of it as a harmless act, when Facebook users see these images on their news feed they simply click the like button, thinking they have done a good deed. Little do they know that they have just given scammers some of their personal information that is connected to their page in the process. Scammers also use the images, to get a page more popular. This way, they could sell the page and earn money. There are various types of scams connected to one simple like of an image.
This article doesn't really have a connection to what we're doing in class. However, it has a connection to what was discussed in class freshmen year. We learned about the different scams that are hidden from us on the internet. There are some precautions that need be taken while surfing the web. Private information must be kept private and away from the hands of scammers.
This isn't really surprising, but it is still somewhat of a shock. I've always thought that those pictures that showed on Facebook were fake. I've heard of stories in the past of situations where the image turned out to be a scam. I'm the type of person who is constantly on Facebook. Now I know to be more careful with what I like on Facebook. It is just unbelievable how someone can just invade someone's privacy and use their picture for heinous acts. The parents of the young girl had no clue, until they were later informed by a friend who recognized the young girl. Online scams are an issue that needs to be addressed by the public. There should be ways to catch scammers easier and punish them.
The central idea of the passage is that there are scams all over Facebook and users must be aware of them when they are on Facebook. The author of the article describes the post shown on Facebook as, "Saccharin-sweet posts that sometimes fill your news feed [seeming] harmless" (Gross). The images that are posted on Facebook are most likely being used for "nefarious purposes" (Gross). It is mentioned in the article that the average Facebook user doesn't know any better. The scammers that are on Facebook try to target people who are more vulnerable. That is why users must be aware of the scams.
This article doesn't really have a connection to what we're doing in class. However, it has a connection to what was discussed in class freshmen year. We learned about the different scams that are hidden from us on the internet. There are some precautions that need be taken while surfing the web. Private information must be kept private and away from the hands of scammers.
This isn't really surprising, but it is still somewhat of a shock. I've always thought that those pictures that showed on Facebook were fake. I've heard of stories in the past of situations where the image turned out to be a scam. I'm the type of person who is constantly on Facebook. Now I know to be more careful with what I like on Facebook. It is just unbelievable how someone can just invade someone's privacy and use their picture for heinous acts. The parents of the young girl had no clue, until they were later informed by a friend who recognized the young girl. Online scams are an issue that needs to be addressed by the public. There should be ways to catch scammers easier and punish them.
The central idea of the passage is that there are scams all over Facebook and users must be aware of them when they are on Facebook. The author of the article describes the post shown on Facebook as, "Saccharin-sweet posts that sometimes fill your news feed [seeming] harmless" (Gross). The images that are posted on Facebook are most likely being used for "nefarious purposes" (Gross). It is mentioned in the article that the average Facebook user doesn't know any better. The scammers that are on Facebook try to target people who are more vulnerable. That is why users must be aware of the scams.
mkhmarketing. "Facebook Beachfront". Photograph. Flickr. Yahoo, 15 Mar 2013. Web. 20 Jan 2014. <http://www.flickr.com/photos/93212162@N08/8560618867>
Gross, Doug. "On Facebook, clicking 'like' can help scammers". CNN. CNN Newsource, 20 Jan 2014. Web. 20 Jan 2012. <http://www.cnn.com>
