BES, Islands (KPCN) — Recently, the cybercrime department of the Dutch Caribbean Police Force has received many reports about phishing via Facebook.
What is phishing via Facebook?
Phishing is when someone tries to gain access to your Facebook account by sending you a suspicious message or a suspicious link and asks you to provide personal information. If someone has gained access to your account, they can use it to send spam.
Example: Johan receives an email stating that he needs to log in to his Facebook account in order to read an important message about his account. The link in the email leads him to a strange looking website where he is asked to enter his username and password.
I think I have been phished. What can I do?
If you have accidentally clicked a strange link and entered your username or password on the site you are taken to, it may be that someone else will be able to log in to your account. The following are some of the steps you can take.
• If you are able to log in to your account, learn how you can protect your account by resetting your password and by logging out of devices which do not belong to you.
• If you are unable to log in to your account and your username and password are not working, you can recover your account.
• If you want to see if anything strange has been happening to your account, read information about how you can review your recent activity and check recent emails from Facebook.
• You can always report strange emails to phish@fb.com.
• Notify the police by sending an email to cybercrime@politiekpcn.com.
How do I avoid getting phished?
Look out for suspicious emails or messages
• Do not trust messages demanding money, offering gifts, or threatening to delete or block your Facebook account.
• Emails from Facebook about your account always come from fb.com, facebook.com of facebookmail.com. You can always go to www.facebook.com or open your Facebook app to see whether we have sent you any important messages.
Never click suspicious links
• If you receive a suspicious email or message claiming to be from Facebook, do not click any links or attachments.
Do not respond to these emails
• Do not reply to messages asking for your password, social security number, or credit card information.
Get alerts
• Sign up to receive alerts about unrecognised logins and activate two-factor authentication to improve your account security.
More information?
Send an e-mail to cybercrime@politicpcn.com or call +599 715 8000 and ask for the cybercrime department.
