How to Spot Spammers

As a Social Media Coordinator who has worked in the industry for about 6 years now, one issue that I have noticed growing consistently worse is spam. Whether in email form, comments, or direct messages, spam and the scammers behind the messages are out there.

We regularly get emails forwarded to us questioning if messages are real. Some spam is super obvious, while others can be difficult to verify. To help, I have compiled a few tips to determine whether messages, comments, and emails you receive are spam. Check them out!

Email Spam:

If you are like me then you probably receive a handful of spam emails a day. The key is to know what is and what isn’t a spam email. The tips below should help!

1. Check not only the sender’s name but also the email address from which the message was sent. Sometimes, the name will be familiar, but the email address is something crazy, like VbWn5t@clickthelink.com.
   
2. Google My Business, Facebook, and Instagram will never email you and ask you to click a link and pay for something. All transactions are done directly on their platforms.
   
3. Any emails from Google My Business that say they can remove reviews for a fee are spam. You cannot pay Google to remove negative reviews.
   
4. Pay attention to the fonts and styling of the email. If it seems off, it is likely not a legitimate email.

Social Media Spam:

Facebook and Instagram have had a TON of issues blocking spam recently. You may have received an email saying your page violated policy, received a message or two from Crypto investors, or had a review left for your page that starts with “A few weeks ago, I was scrolling through.” Maybe you have seen a comment from an off looking page that is selling online merch for a page you follow. Whatever you do, DO NOT CLICK THE LINKS! Use the tips below to help determine and block spam.

1. Facebook will only email you from email addresses ending in @fb.com or @support.facebook.com. If it isn’t from one of these emails, it is spam.
   
2. Always report fraudulent messages, reviews, or comments as spam to Facebook. Most of the time, you can hide the spam or delete the comment after reporting these items.
   
3. If you see a fraudulent link on your business page, report it and block the user from your page so they can’t post it again. The goal is to get your followers to click the link and provide payment information.
   
4. Adjust your settings on messenger to only allow countries you provide services in to message you.
   
5. Add keywords of spam messages to your page so spammers aren’t able to post certain things. We use phrases such as “Cryptocurrency” and “permanent deletion” to help filter out spam comments.

The tips above are great tools for determining spam and helping prevent it. They won’t eliminate spam completely, but they will help decrease the amount and help you determine what is or is not spam. Remember, when in doubt, DON’T CLICK!

Need help? Our Social Media Solutionists are here to assist. Give us a call at 610-337-8484 or email socialmedia@amgsolutions.com.