juggernaut Facebook is the primary online fixture for a lot of folks (1.15 billion monthly active users as of June 2013, to be exact) – this is probably why it’s constantly under attack or serious scrutiny. The social network is not only plagued by lawsuits, viruses, catfishers, money lenders, and the government’s watchful eye… with the amount of people freely offering all sorts of pertinent details about their personal lives on Facebook, a rise in identity fraud on the site is bound to happen.
A report from The Japan News details many scenarios wherein Facebook users are duped into surrendering personal information through fake posts that solicit likes, votes, or link clicks. Messages have been found to lead to a page that asks users for contact details (like a phone number), and since these links are believed to be sent by a “friend,” they think nothing of it and acquiesce, ending up the unwitting victims of identity theft.