Facebook, PayPal and Instagram ripe for scams

A woman in Greybull had her Facebook page hacked. The hacker took over her page and posted a “moving sale.”  A variety of items were listed at extremely low prices. When people wanted the item, the hacker asked for earnest money to hold it.
The woman made a new FB page. She tried to warn people on the old FB page that it was a scam. The hacker blocked her and removed any posts from her or others that warned people.
Despite reporting the problem to Facebook, the account remained active for months. The adage, “If it is too good to be true, it probably is,” is great advice.
 

REAL ESTATE SCAMS
Another scam on Facebook has to do with real estate. The scammer will post a picture of a house/apartment to rent or buy at an extremely low price. Big Horn County Sheriff Ken Blackburn said that the scammers use legitimate properties in the descriptions and photos.
Those interested are asked to pay earnest money and or lease money through PayPal. Blackburn knows of three cases in just the last few weeks. The way the payment is set up makes it so that PayPal will not refund the money.  
Blackburn noted that sometimes the property is listed as available soon, indicating the current residents are vacating. This helps fool people in case they recognize the property and know it is currently occupied.
Like with the “moving sale” scam, a real person’s account has been hacked or cloned. Those people have no idea that their account is being used to rip off people.
 

MISSING PEOPLE SCAM
There are frequent posts of a missing child, senior adult or an animal that has been found and/or hit by a vehicle. The scammers post it on various community pages in multiple locations. For example, a missing senior was posted in Gillette, Billings and Powell. Same picture, same story, the only difference was where the person was missing from.
Facebook users share the post. Not long after the post has been shared by hundreds, even thousands of people, the post changes to a sales pitch, an event or a get rich quick scheme.
Often a scam post can be detected by simply looking at the profile of the person who posted it. The profile is often brand new and/or a “page” versus a person. They have no “friends.”
 

INSTAGRAM/MESSENGER
People are getting messages through their Instagram or Facebook Messenger. The scammer typically asks, “Hey. How are you doing? and then asks if you have heard about some program. Here is an actual message that originated from a local person’s Instagram account.
“Good to hear from you. I’m doing pretty good and just wondering if you received any notifications about the CSBG program?  The Community Service Block Grant program.  They offer help to workers, retired, young, winded, disabled, employed and older. Do you get any money from them?”
There really is a Community Service Block Grant program. In Wyoming it is given to the Wyoming Department of Health. It is passed to a representative in each of the counties for administration.
The scammer will ask for your name, phone number and address. Then ask for you to purchase a money order for a processing fee.  In reality, if you are required to spend money to get money, it’s a scam.