{"id":70513,"date":"2023-11-27T18:01:13","date_gmt":"2023-11-27T10:01:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/?p=70513"},"modified":"2023-11-27T17:29:13","modified_gmt":"2023-11-27T09:29:13","slug":"facebook-messenger-scams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/facebook-messenger-scams\/","title":{"rendered":"Facebook Messenger Scam: What Happens When You Click the Link"},"content":{"rendered":"

A widespread phishing scam has been circulating on Facebook for some time, becoming increasingly irritating, as evidenced by the messages we\u2019ve received. We\u2019ve decided to write an article about it, explaining what it is, so those reading won\u2019t be deceived by it.<\/p>\n

\"Facebook<\/figure>\n

This scam involves a message on Facebook Messenger, falsely alarming you about the status of your Facebook account. It conveys a sense of urgency, suggesting immediate action to prevent your account from being locked or terminated by Facebook.<\/p>\n

These scam messages come in various forms. Typically featuring a Meta logo or a generic support-related icon, these scams falsely claim that your Facebook page has violated copyright laws or Facebook\u2019s policies. They either urge immediate attention in the title or in the subject line.<\/p>\n

Below are some examples:<\/p>\n

\"Examples<\/figure>\n

If you ignore these messages, the senders\u2019 names usually change to \u2018Facebook user<\/em>\u2018 after some time and their messages become unavailable once they are reported by other users.<\/p>\n

\"Unavailable<\/figure>\n

Out of curiosity, we decided to click on one of these messages to find out its motive and where it would lead us. Here\u2019s a sample of how one of the messages looks.<\/p>\n

\"Sample<\/figure>\n

Red flags are usually raised when there\u2019s a link, especially if it seems dubious and doesn\u2019t originate from meta.com<\/em> or facebook.com<\/em>, but rather from some random or imitative website.<\/p>\n

If you receive such a message, avoid clicking any links and report them as spam.<\/p>\n

\"Option<\/figure>\n

The message, allegedly from MetaCopyright Appeal<\/em>, claimed we needed to resolve a copyright issue by clicking a link to talk to Meta support. The sender, displayed a Meta logo and led to an almost empty Facebook profile page.<\/p>\n

\"Fake<\/figure>\n

We followed the link and it redirected us to a phishing landing page resembling the Meta business help center, where the only option is to click on \u201cContact Support\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"Fake<\/figure>\n

Clicking on it opened a new window with another strange URL, looking like the following. Your only choice here is to contact the support team, so we click next and proceeded.<\/p>\n

\"Suspicious<\/figure>\n

Next, you\u2019re asked to enter your phone number, email address, birthday, and click submit \u2013 these are supposedly required to address your issue.<\/p>\n

\"Phishing<\/figure>\n

After providing this information, you are then asked to enter your Facebook password.<\/p>\n

\"Phishing<\/figure>\n

We entered a fake password, which then initiated a \u201cvalidating information\u201d process.<\/p>\n

\"Phishing<\/figure>\n

This validation took a long time and ultimately stated \u201cpassword not correct\u201d. We suspect that during this so-called verification, it tries to log into the Facebook account or attempt account recovery using the information provided earlier.<\/p>\n

\"Incorrect<\/figure>\n

So, if you receive such messages in Messenger, report them as spam and block the sender. Clicking on the link and providing the requested information could lead to your Facebook account being compromised and taken over.<\/p>\n

Stay vigilant and safe!<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We sift through the link in a Facebook Messenger phishing scam to discover what they’re really about, so you don’t have to.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3409],"tags":[158,3715,4605],"topic":[],"class_list":["entry-content","is-maxi"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFacebook Messenger Scam: What Happens When You Click the Link - Hongkiat<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"We sift through the link in a Facebook Messenger phishing scam to discover what they're really about, so you don't have to.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/facebook-messenger-scams\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Facebook Messenger Scam: What Happens When You Click the Link\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We sift through the link in a Facebook Messenger phishing scam to discover what they're really about, so you don't have to.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/facebook-messenger-scams\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Hongkiat\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/hongkiatcom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-11-27T10:01:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/assets.hongkiat.com\/uploads\/facebook-messenger-scams\/hero.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Hongkiat.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@hongkiat\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@hongkiat\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Hongkiat.com\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/facebook-messenger-scams\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/facebook-messenger-scams\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Hongkiat.com\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7cc686597d92f9086729e4bcc1577ba3\"},\"headline\":\"Facebook Messenger Scam: What Happens When You Click the Link\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-11-27T10:01:13+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/facebook-messenger-scams\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":468,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/facebook-messenger-scams\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/assets.hongkiat.com\\\/uploads\\\/facebook-messenger-scams\\\/hero.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Facebook\",\"Facebook Messenger\",\"Internet Security and Privacy\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Social Media\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/facebook-messenger-scams\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/facebook-messenger-scams\\\/\",\"name\":\"Facebook Messenger Scam: What Happens When You Click the Link - Hongkiat\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/facebook-messenger-scams\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/facebook-messenger-scams\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/assets.hongkiat.com\\\/uploads\\\/facebook-messenger-scams\\\/hero.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-11-27T10:01:13+00:00\",\"description\":\"We sift through the link in a Facebook Messenger phishing scam to discover what they're really about, so you don't have to.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/facebook-messenger-scams\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/facebook-messenger-scams\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/facebook-messenger-scams\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/assets.hongkiat.com\\\/uploads\\\/facebook-messenger-scams\\\/hero.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/assets.hongkiat.com\\\/uploads\\\/facebook-messenger-scams\\\/hero.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/facebook-messenger-scams\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Facebook Messenger Scam: What Happens When You Click the Link\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"Hongkiat\",\"description\":\"Tech and Design Tips\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Hongkiat.com\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/hkdc-logo-rect-yoast.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/hkdc-logo-rect-yoast.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":799,\"caption\":\"Hongkiat.com\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/hongkiatcom\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/hongkiat\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pinterest.com\\\/hongkiat\\\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7cc686597d92f9086729e4bcc1577ba3\",\"name\":\"Hongkiat.com\",\"description\":\"This post is published by an HKDC (hongkiat.com) staff. (I.e., intern, staff writer, or editor).\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/com\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Facebook Messenger Scam: What Happens When You Click the Link - Hongkiat","description":"We sift through the link in a Facebook Messenger phishing scam to discover what they're really about, so you don't have to.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/facebook-messenger-scams\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Facebook Messenger Scam: What Happens When You Click the Link","og_description":"We sift through the link in a Facebook Messenger phishing scam to discover what they're really about, so you don't have to.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/facebook-messenger-scams\/","og_site_name":"Hongkiat","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/hongkiatcom","article_published_time":"2023-11-27T10:01:13+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/assets.hongkiat.com\/uploads\/facebook-messenger-scams\/hero.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Hongkiat.com","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@hongkiat","twitter_site":"@hongkiat","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Hongkiat.com","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/facebook-messenger-scams\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/facebook-messenger-scams\/"},"author":{"name":"Hongkiat.com","@id":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/7cc686597d92f9086729e4bcc1577ba3"},"headline":"Facebook Messenger Scam: What Happens When You Click the Link","datePublished":"2023-11-27T10:01:13+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/facebook-messenger-scams\/"},"wordCount":468,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/facebook-messenger-scams\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/assets.hongkiat.com\/uploads\/facebook-messenger-scams\/hero.jpg","keywords":["Facebook","Facebook Messenger","Internet Security and Privacy"],"articleSection":["Social Media"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/facebook-messenger-scams\/","url":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/facebook-messenger-scams\/","name":"Facebook Messenger Scam: What Happens When You Click the Link - Hongkiat","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/facebook-messenger-scams\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/facebook-messenger-scams\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/assets.hongkiat.com\/uploads\/facebook-messenger-scams\/hero.jpg","datePublished":"2023-11-27T10:01:13+00:00","description":"We sift through the link in a Facebook Messenger phishing scam to discover what they're really about, so you don't have to.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/facebook-messenger-scams\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/facebook-messenger-scams\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/facebook-messenger-scams\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/assets.hongkiat.com\/uploads\/facebook-messenger-scams\/hero.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/assets.hongkiat.com\/uploads\/facebook-messenger-scams\/hero.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/facebook-messenger-scams\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Facebook Messenger Scam: What Happens When You Click the Link"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/","name":"Hongkiat","description":"Tech and Design Tips","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Hongkiat.com","url":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/hkdc-logo-rect-yoast.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/hkdc-logo-rect-yoast.jpg","width":1200,"height":799,"caption":"Hongkiat.com"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/hongkiatcom","https:\/\/x.com\/hongkiat","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/hongkiat\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/7cc686597d92f9086729e4bcc1577ba3","name":"Hongkiat.com","description":"This post is published by an HKDC (hongkiat.com) staff. (I.e., intern, staff writer, or editor).","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/author\/com\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4uxU-ilj","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70513","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70513"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70513\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70515,"href":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70513\/revisions\/70515"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70513"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70513"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70513"},{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic?post=70513"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}