Fake Facebook Ads Scam Tens Of Thousands Of Dollars From Small Business Owner

It's no secret that Facebook scammers often impersonate businesses to trick unsuspecting users into forking over money.
While the cost of this fraud is apparent for the victims, the damage to the businesses that are being impersonated is often not reported.
That's why, this week, a small business in St. Paul, Minnesota, told its story about being victimized by Facebook scammers - and how the social media giant has done nothing to stop it.
According to Robert Sanberg, the owner of a small direct-to-consumer outdoor company called WindRider, he noticed his Facebook ad sales slowing down in early November.
The next week, he began receiving calls and emails from frustrated consumers who said they never received their orders.
After one customer sent him screenshots, he finally found out that his business was being impersonated by scammers.
By Black Friday, he was receiving over 10 complaints a day, and despite repeatedly flagging the issue for Facebook, the company has not helped him.
There's little chance authorities will be able to help these users recover their money, and Sanberg says his business is out at least $20,000 a day in late November alone.
He has since pulled all his advertising from Facebook, but the damage has been done.
Now the onus is on Facebook to do a better job protecting business owners like him in the future.
Choose what the experts use: award-winning cybersecurity you can trust and rely on.
Try Bitdefender Premium VPN, the ultra-fast VPN that keeps your online identity and activities safe from hackers, ISPs and snoops.
System Mechanic 14 - Make your computer run like new.


This Cyber News was published on facecrooks.com. Publication date: Tue, 02 Jan 2024 21:43:05 +0000


Cyber News related to Fake Facebook Ads Scam Tens Of Thousands Of Dollars From Small Business Owner

New Phishing Scam Hooks META Businesses with Trademark Threats - The phishing scam falsely asserts that the victim's Facebook page will be permanently deleted due to a post allegedly infringing on trademark rights. There is no actual infringement; it's all part of the scammer's malicious plan. In a recent wave of ...
11 months ago Hackread.com
Fake Facebook Ads Scam Tens Of Thousands Of Dollars From Small Business Owner - It's no secret that Facebook scammers often impersonate businesses to trick unsuspecting users into forking over money. While the cost of this fraud is apparent for the victims, the damage to the businesses that are being impersonated is often not ...
11 months ago Facecrooks.com
Massive utility scam campaign spreads via online ads - When customers want to discuss their bills or look for ways to save money, scammers are just a phone call away. Enter the utility scam, where crooks pretend to be your utility company so they can threaten and extort as much money from you as they ...
10 months ago Malwarebytes.com
Watch out for "I can't believe he is gone" Facebook phishing posts - This phishing attack is ongoing and widely spread on Facebook through friend's hacked accounts, as the threat actors build a massive army of stolen accounts for use in further scams on the social media platform. As the posts come from your friends' ...
11 months ago Bleepingcomputer.com
Fake Recruiters Defraud Facebook Users via Remote Work Offers - A fresh wave of job scams is spreading on Meta's Facebook platform that aims to lure users with offers for remote-home positions and ultimately defraud them by stealing their personal data and banking credentials. The attackers dangle offers of ...
11 months ago Darkreading.com
Check Point Research Unfolds: Navigating the Deceptive Waters: Unmasking A Sophisticated Ongoing NFT Airdrop Scam - Sophisticated Scam Targeting Token Holders: Over 100 popular projects' token holders targeted with fake NFT airdrops appearing from reputable sources. Multi-Stage Deception Uncovered: The ongoing Scam involves enticing victims to fraudulent websites ...
11 months ago Blog.checkpoint.com
Fraudulent "CryptoRom" Apps Slip Through Apple and Google App Store Review Process - Pig Butchering, also known as Sha Zhu Pan and CryptoRom, is an ugly name for an ugly scam. What is new is that apps perpetrating the scam can be downloaded from the official Apple and Android app stores - giving them greater apparent validity to ...
1 year ago Securityweek.com
Fraudsters make $50,000 a day by spoofing crypto researchers - Multiple fake accounts impersonating cryptocurrency scam investigators and blockchain security companies are promoting phishing pages to drain wallets in an ongoing campaign on X. To lure potential victims, the scammer uses a breach on major ...
1 year ago Bleepingcomputer.com
Cyber Crime Wave: Chinese Scammers Target Europe with Fake Designer Brands - In the last couple of weeks, there has been an increase in the number of people who have been duped into sharing their card details and other personal information with a network of fake online designer shops that are operated from China, which appear ...
7 months ago Cysecurity.news
7 Months Inside an Online Scam Labor Camp - He had been kidnapped and forced to work for an abusive online scam operation. A man was abducted by a Chinese gang and forced to work in a scam operation. More than anything else, Neo Lu, a 28-year-old Chinese office worker, believed the gig would ...
1 year ago Nytimes.com
How do I block Taylor Swift news from invading my Facebook timeline? - The short answer is that you can't block Taylor Swift from invading your Facebook line. Over the years, Facebook has tested features that allow users to mute certain words from appearing on a user's timeline Feed. In the old days, being able to ...
10 months ago Pandasecurity.com
Cybersecurity Training for Small Businesses - The importance of cybersecurity training for small businesses cannot be overstated in today's increasingly digital world. In conclusion, cybersecurity training is essential for small businesses to protect themselves against cyber threats. There are ...
10 months ago Securityzap.com
Is that survey real or fake? How to spot a survey scam - Online surveys and quizzes are all over the internet. They're quick and cheap to set up, easy for recipients to fill out, and simple for researchers to interpret. It's no wonder that they remain a popular tool for marketers to reach and research ...
1 year ago Welivesecurity.com
How to Delete a Facebook Business Page With Our Guide - An inactive Facebook business page won't do your brand any good; sometimes, it may be best to delete it and start fresh. Deleting a page is straightforward and can be undone within 14 days, as here's how you do it. No matter the reason, there may ...
1 year ago Hackercombat.com
Facebook fake videos - I have spent a not-very-happy time this morning, besieged by Facebook group posts passed off as porn videos and trying to get rid of them. It's unlikely that they're either porn or videos: they're bot postings of malicious links that are probably ...
10 months ago Securityboulevard.com
Best of 2023: Why is everyone getting hacked on Facebook? - Importantly, phishing relies on the victim trusting the scammer and taking an action - like clicking a link or sending bank account information - in order for the scammer to get what they want. It's not your imagination - social media scams really ...
1 year ago Securityboulevard.com
Facebook Marketplace Is Being Ruined by Zelle Scammers - Some scams encourage people to upgrade their Zelle accounts to a business tier to receive money from a buyer, according to the Better Business Bureau, and come from emails mimicking Zelle, but with different domains. That upgrade appears to cost ...
1 year ago Wired.com
Pig Butchering: Fake Trading Apps Target Crypto on Apple, Google Play Stores - Pig Butchering scam targets crypto users with fake trading apps on Apple and Google Play Stores. These apps, found on Apple’s App Store and Google Play, and on phishing sites, are part of a Pig Butchering scam targeting cryptocurrency investors ...
2 months ago Hackread.com
X users fed up with constant stream of malicious crypto ads - Cybercriminals are abusing X advertisements to promote websites that lead to crypto drainers, fake airdrops, and other scams. Like all advertising platforms, X, formerly known as Twitter, claims to show advertisements based on a user's activity, ...
11 months ago Bleepingcomputer.com
Australian SMBs Faces Challenges in Cyber Security - The internet has turned into a challenge for small to midsize businesses based in Australia. As 60% of SMBs close following a breach, companies that are breached are likely to fail later. According to a recent report by ASIC, 'medium to large' ...
1 year ago Cysecurity.news
Facebook's New Privacy Nightmare: 'Link History' - Facebook is doubling down on tracking your behavior, despite the efforts of regulators worldwide. Its new Link History app feature is yet another AdTech privacy dark pattern. Meta's Mister Zuckerberg pretends it's all for the good of Facebook users. ...
11 months ago Securityboulevard.com
Facebook and Instagram passwords were stored in plaintext, Meta fined | Malwarebytes - In 2019, a private security researcher reported finding a database with the names, phone numbers, and unique user IDs of over 267 million Facebook users. Ireland’s privacy watchdog Data Protection Commission (DPC) has fined Meta €91M ($101M) ...
2 months ago Malwarebytes.com
Facebook Scam Targets The Funeral Of A Popular Politician - Facebook scammers often capitalize on current events to attract interest. Some scammers in Australia went a bridge too far when they created numerous fake pages that offered to livestream the funeral of a recently deceased popular politician named ...
1 year ago Facecrooks.com
Facebook Introduces New Features: Top 20 Most Essential SEO-Optimized Long-Tail Keywords - Facebook recently unveiled several new features to its platform, designed to improve user experience and drive new levels of engagement. Among the new features are advanced personalization options, more powerful security tools, and improved ...
1 year ago Thehackernews.com
Fake Corsair job offers on LinkedIn push DarkGate malware - A threat actor is using fake LinkedIn posts and direct messages about a Facebook Ads specialist position at hardware maker Corsair to lure people into downloading info-stealing malware like DarkGate and RedLine. Cybersecurity company WithSecure ...
1 year ago Bleepingcomputer.com

Latest Cyber News


Cyber Trends (last 7 days)


Trending Cyber News (last 7 days)