• SOCIAL MEDIA & TECH PLATFORMS Archives

Social Media – Where Scams Are Born!

Social Media – Where Scams Are Born! By U.S. Federal Trade Commission Social Media: A Golden Goose For Scammers Scammers are hiding in plain sight on social media platforms and reports to the FTC’s Consumer Sentinel Network point to huge profits. One in four people who reported losing money to fraud since 2021 said it started on social media.[1] Reported losses to scams on social media during the same period hit a staggering $2.7 billion, far higher than any other method of contact. And because the vast majority of frauds are Read More ...

SCARS Editorial Team2023-10-09T11:00:18-04:00October 9th, 2023|Categories: • ARTICLES & REPORTS, • SOCIAL MEDIA & TECH PLATFORMS, ♠ CRIMES & CRIMINALS, 2023, Federal Trade Commission|Tags: Federal Trade Commission, FTC, Online Fraud, Scams, Social Media|

A Beginner’s Guide to the Dark Web for Investigators

A Beginner’s Guide to the Dark Web for Investigators By Oxana Korzun, CFE, Fraud Expert / Investigations and Risk Management – San Francisco, California A Short Instruction On How To Find Information On The Dark Web For OSINT Purposes Many times, an investigation would lead me to the Dark Web. Sometimes it’s to dive into forums and gather intelligence, and other times it would be to check illegal goods markets selling counterfeit products of my clients. Every time I mention that I use the Dark Web, people imagine Read More ...

SCARS Editorial Team2023-10-04T15:05:30-04:00October 1st, 2023|Categories: • SOCIAL MEDIA & TECH PLATFORMS, • ARTICLES & REPORTS, 2023, Oxana Korzun|Tags: Dark Web, OSINT, Tor Browser, Virtual Private Network (VPN)|

Facebook Says It Is Trying To Do Better!

Facebook Says It Is Trying To Do Better! An Editorial By Tim McGuinness, Ph.D. – Anthropologist, Scientist, Director of the Society of Citizens Against Relationship Scams Inc., portions by Meta and Yahoo News Meta Raising Online Defenses Through Transparency and Collaboration – So They Say! Facebook and Meta’s Failure to Control Harmful Content Facebook and Meta, the parent company of Facebook, have been under fire for years for their failure to control harmful content on their platforms. This includes fake news, hate speech, disinformation, and online criminals. Read More Read More ...

SCARS Editorial Team2023-09-02T16:51:35-04:00September 2nd, 2023|Categories: • SOCIAL MEDIA & TECH PLATFORMS, • EDITORIAL/COMMENTARY, 2023|Tags: Digital Services Act, Facebook, Meta, Social Media|

Facebook Is Using Your Tax Data!

Facebook Is Using Your Tax Data! By AP – Associated Press / reprinted 3 Major Tax Prep Firms Shared ‘Extraordinarily Sensitive’ Data About Taxpayers With Meta, Lawmakers Say Three large tax preparation firms sent “extraordinarily sensitive” information on tens of millions of taxpayers to Facebook’s parent company Meta over the course of at least two years, a group of congressional Democrats reported on Wednesday. They say some of that data was then used by Meta to create targeted advertising to its own users, other companies, and to train Meta’s algorithms. The Read More ...

SCARS Editorial Team2023-07-12T18:40:27-04:00July 12th, 2023|Categories: • GOVERNMENT/REGULATORY, • NEWS, • PRIVACY, • REGULATORY / LEGAL REVIEW, • SOCIAL MEDIA & TECH PLATFORMS, ♠ REGULATORY/LEGAL ACTIONS, 2023|Tags: Data Abuse, Facebook, Federal Trade Commission, FTC, Instagram, Meta, Privacy Regulations|

Impersonators & Tribute Performers Banned By Meta

Impersonators & Tribute Performers Banned By Meta By BBC Impersonators of Dolly Parton, Britney Spears, And Taylor Swift – Tribute Acts Stage Protest Over Meta ‘Ban’ Impersonators & Tribute acts have staged a protest outside Meta’s London HQ after having Facebook and Instagram profiles deleted because of rules banning people from impersonating others. Dolly Parton, Freddie Mercury, and Adele impersonators were among those fighting the “unfair” moves, which they said were putting their livelihoods at risk. Read More …

SCARS Editorial Team2023-06-30T19:58:53-04:00June 30th, 2023|Categories: • SOCIAL MEDIA & TECH PLATFORMS, • ARTICLES & REPORTS, 2023|Tags: Banned, Facebook, Impersonators, Instagram, Meta, Social Media, Tribute Performers|

FTC Victim Predators

Attn: Federal Trade Commission

There is a WAR going on against scam victims!

A war where for-profit companies are exploiting and deceiving the victims of scams and financial fraud!

WE ASK THE FTC TO STOP EXPLOITATION OF SCAM VICTIMS NOW!

This war is being led by predatory for-profit companies that want more of these desperate and panicked crime victims\' money or to lead them away from legitimate support!

These companies claim they can get the victim\'s money back or that they will investigate the crime and have the criminals arrested - neither they can do. The victim usually receives a document or two and nothing more for the thousands of dollars they pay in advance for these services. Services that within the United States these companies must be licensed as private investigators to even provide any crime investigations or money recovery services, yet almost all of these companies lack state licenses.

There are cryptocurrency tracing companies that use automated tools to generate a paper report and charging scam victims thousands of dollars in advance for this service! These victims are desperate for help and looking for answers, and instead of sending them to real victims\' assistance providers they are pulling them in and costing them more of the precious little money they have left! What the scammers do is bad enough, but these real companies are exploiting victims one more time!

We call on the Federal Trade Commission to begin exploring this exploitation of crime victims - specifically scam or financial fraud victims by private investigating, money recovery, and other for-profit companies service companies!

We believe that this falls under the Commission\'s authority to regulate deceptive trade practices.

This is despicable and deceptive trade practice that should be banned in the United States without proper state licensing and full and complete disclosure about what they can and cannot do. We also believe the companies and their principals operating without proper legal licenses now should be banned from these activities permanently.

Please do what YOU can to bring this to the attention of the FTC Chair and staff!

Thank you!

Vianey Goes and Tim McGuinness, Ph.D., Directors,
Society of Citizens Against Relationship Scams Inc.
A crime victims\' assistance & crime prevention nonprofit supporting scam victims worldwide for free!
contact@againstscams.org

**your signature**