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Cases can be investigated using Social Media
Social media has become the hotspot for scams. It’s easy for a scammer to imitate someone else and create profiles for free. There are endless resources for scammers to generate a free profile; all they have to do is save photos of someone else and create a convincing persona.
Throughout their history, many social media apps and sites have dealt with bots automatically making posts, adding users, or messaging other users. They followed a set script and would be designed to gain followers, advertise a site or product, or engage in some type of scam. Scammers usually see their efforts thwarted, but they come up with ways to circumvent the roadblocks to prevent them from operating.
Social media appeals to scammers because they get a direct line to a target or victim with very little effort. Active users are apparent because most sites show your recent activity as you engage with others or make posts.
Snapchat, originally launched under the name Picaboo in 2011, presented an interesting approach to social media. It was an app that focused on sending pictures that were meant to expire after viewing. If a screenshot was taken, the sender of the picture was notified that what they’d shared was no longer private.
As Snapchat grew, it became a social media platform that changed how users interact. It became a media-focused platform, sending pictures and videos directly to friends or sharing publicly.
The introduction of filters offered new ways to share media and even active advertising where users were sharing brand or product info in their media. The use of augmented reality and AI took the filter content to the next level.
Snapchat has become a multifaceted social media experience that appeals to all generations. Its privacy aspects meant users could share content they could expect to be kept mostly private, with no timeline footprint of the things they shared. Where other social media accounts expected you to share a history of your use, Snapchat broke away from it.
Although Snapchat’s unique value proposition focuses on temporary sharing, users are still vulnerable to scam attempts. It’s possible for fake users to exist and for bots to engage with users like on other platforms. Snapchat’s unique position allows for a mix of traditional scams and scams that are a little more unique to its platform.
Aspects of Snapchat’s experience are moderated, such as public stories and highlighted content. However, person-to-person media would rely strictly on the recipient to report inappropriate behavior.
This means a person or potentially a scammer could share sexual or inappropriate content without being as easily discovered or reported as they would be on Instagram or Facebook, where content is more easily seen by unintended targets. That makes some of the scams perpetrated on their platform more unique to what may be encountered.
To fight back against the most common Snapchat scams, we must familiarize ourselves with what they are and how to keep an eye out for them. We’ve created a list of 10 of the most likely Snapchat scams a user will face.
Let’s take a look at what they are and what you can do to avoid them.
The scam: Romance scams are very common on social media platforms. Users create accounts, typically using a fake profile, which contains pictures of someone else and information that doesn’t pertain to the actual operator. Their intention is to persuade someone that they’re who they say they are.
The ultimate goal for the romance scammer is to either convince their victim to send them money outright or to blackmail them. The scammer may pretend to be a love interest, express that they’re having financial hardships, and ask for money while pretending to be someone else. They may instead ask for the user to share sexual content in the form of pictures or videos.
If their request for sexual content is fulfilled, they will then turn against their target. They will threaten to release the content to friends, family, and coworkers or post on the internet publicly. The scammer will request money in exchange for keeping the content from being released.
How to look out for it: Be wary of new or out-of-the-blue friend requests, especially from strangers. There is never a guarantee the person you see in the pictures is the person you’re talking to.
If the person is someone you know or recognize, confirm their identity. You can engage in conversation and ask them things only they should know. The information could be something the two of you have only talked about in private or things that aren’t publicly shared on social media.
If you’ve met someone with the intention of engaging in a romantic relationship, they should be willing to meet or video chat. If they’re making excuses to not reveal themselves, they may not be who they say they are. Snapchat provides functionality for video and voice calling built-in, which can aid in identifying someone.
The scam: Many major and minor celebrities use social media, including Snapchat. Many celebrities don’t use social media, but that information may or may not be made known to the public. A celebrity doesn’t have to just be a Hollywood movie star. Many minor celebrities exist through platforms like YouTube, Twitch, or other platforms that cater to niche crowds.
A bad actor can use the identity of a celebrity and pretend to be that person using Snapchat. They can share pictures and videos to their public story or send them directly to a user. This is often content they capture from the celebrity on another platform to make themselves seem credible.
The scammer will then use the impersonation of a celebrity as a means to extort their victim. The scam can be similar to a romance scam, selling fake merchandise, asking for donations to a fake charitable cause, or asking people to visit suspicious links.
How to look out for it: Some celebrities DO interact with their fans. Smaller creators and more niche celebrities are more likely to do so. If Hollywood A-list actors are interacting with you, it’s not impossible, just unlikely. If a celebrity is using Snapchat to interact with fans and provide links to a special cause, vet the information independently.
Don’t click links, and don’t send personal information to an unverified account. Sometimes, a celebrity will make it known what social media accounts they manage, if any.
The scam: Contest scams have been around in some form for quite some time. The premise is to either declare you the winner of a contest or ask you to enter. Depending on the scammer’s objective, the means and outcome can differ.
If the scam is to declare you the winner of a contest, they will likely try to gain access to your financial accounts. If the prize is money, they’ll ask for personal details to send your prize. They may ask for your banking information or send you a link to provide the information.
How to look out for it: If you’ve been declared the winner of a contest you never entered, it’s likely a scam. If you’re asked to enter into a contest by a user you’re not familiar with or a seemingly fake brand, don’t provide your information. There are legitimate contests that a company or person may run and plenty of scams.
A scam contest will be posted by an account not directly associated with a brand. To verify the contest, you can look up the contest independently of the information provided to you. Companies will post the contest on their official site or other social media accounts that should be verified.
The scam: Adult content accounts on Snapchat offer premium content for subscribing to them. While there are adult content creators who use Snapchat, the platform isn’t designed for OnlyFans-type use. That is to say that they don’t offer a way to subscribe to a user in exchange for exclusive content.
Scammers will add other users and send them messages with enticing offers to their content. They may offer discounts and ask for subscriptions by sending money through payment apps. Once the person pays, there will be no content sent, and the user will either lose their money or have compromised their financial information.
How to look out for it: Don’t interact with any account that offers adult material through a Snapchat premium model. The use of sexual material on Snapchat’s platform goes against their community guidelines. Often, the content being posted to entice users is actually stolen from another creator.
Even if the user is real, that activity could result in the user being removed from the platform. If content was provided or not, you’ll likely lose your money when the account is taken down.
The scam: Social media platforms have quickly become methods for sales. Creators can directly reach their audience by demonstrating their products or acting as an affiliate for a brand. It’s not uncommon to see this behavior on many social media sites and the offers or products can be legitimate.
The scammers will direct users to a product website to purchase what they’ve demonstrated. Fake product scams account for 45% of the money lost to social media scams.
How to look out for it: Snapchat can be another social media platform used to sell products. But whenever you purchase a product from an unfamiliar site, take a second to investigate. Look up the website and product you’re looking to purchase by searching them. Check for reviews on both the website and the product in question.
The scam: Surveys can be an essential part of a business operation to perform better and provide great service. Snapchat, however, doesn’t participate in user surveys. If they were to ask for feedback they would implement that experience within the app.
User accounts pretending to be some Snapchat customer service team may try to add you or message you. You may receive an email from a spoofed address or an address pretending to be Snapchat. These surveys will often be behind a link they expect a user to click on, which could lead to malware or ask questions that include sensitive personal details.
How to look out for it: Don’t click any links sent by a user, especially one you’ve had no prior contact with. Don’t engage the sender if you receive an email from something claiming to be Snapchat offering a reward in return for filling out a survey.
A Snapchat survey would likely be integrated into their platform, and they will certainly not offer a prize in exchange. They will never ask for personal details or details about your account, such as passwords.
The scam: Phishing scams are common across any social media platform, email, texts, and calls. On Snapchat, a phishing attack could be someone posing to be your friend or family member. They may know some personal information about you and the person they’re imitating because of the social engineering they do beforehand.
A scammer may have been able to identify you and build a profile about you, your family, and your friends. They can imitate someone you know and use that information to convince you that they’re the real person. Depending on the skill level of the scammer, they may have even imitated their way of texting.
How to look out for it: If someone you know adds you on Snapchat, ask them questions only they would know the answers to. Choose information that is only something you share, things that aren’t publicly shared online. This is especially prudent when you may already be friends with this person on Snapchat.
Duplicate accounts should be an immediate red flag. While it’s possible for a user to have lost access to their account, there are usually several recovery methods that make the process possible.
A request or message from a duplicate account should immediately prompt you to verify their identity. Ask to jump on a video call to confirm or disprove your suspicions.
The scam: A meetup scam may go hand-in-hand with romance scams but can exist in other circumstances. A scammer may be posing as someone offering a job, a service, or to connect in person. When it gets closer to solidifying those plans, they may ask for help with transportation.
The scammer will ask for money to make the meetup happen. They may provide links to send money or ask for it through a money app.
How to look out for it: Anyone asking for money is an immediate red flag. This is essential to remember when dealing with people you have not met before. A scammer relies on your sense of empathy to extort you. Never send money to someone you don’t know in real life. Don’t engage people who solicit you for money or send you links.
The scam: You may receive a message out of the blue that your Snapchat account was compromised. Maybe there’s a message that your details have been changed. This is a highly probable situation and can spark a bit of panic in you.
Your gut reaction will be to follow the instructions sent to you to protect yourself and your account. You may be prompted to verify information, provide your password, or ask for sensitive information. The scam is successful when you provide this information through an unverified source.
How to look out for it: There may be real instances where you’re asked if you attempted to log into your account or if you changed your password. Someone may have gained access when you didn’t intend them to. So, how do you tell the difference? In instances of Snapchat claiming your password was changed, they’ll help you recover it and check to see if you still have access to your account.
If you can open the app and access your information, the alert may have been fraudulent. It could have come from a spoofed email address made to look like Snapchat sent it.
If you can access your app and your information, change your password within the app. The notification may be real if you receive an email alert and can’t log into your account. Check the sender’s email address and Google it to see if it’s an address Snapchat uses before interacting with any links it provides.
The scam: Sugar mommas and sugar daddies are people looking for someone to provide for them financially. In return, they will give you their attention and may promise sexual activity in a no-strings-attached context. But this can also be reversed and be someone looking to be someone’s sugar momma or sugar daddy.
The scammer will request money to send sexual content or offer to send money to someone. If the user is offering to be a sugar parent, they may exhort their target or ask for money to cover the fees associated with sending money.
The scammer may be impersonating an attractive person looking for a sugar parent to send them money. The content they’ll provide doesn’t belong to them and they may never be unveiled.
How to look out for it: Sugar-parent relationships are a real thing that some adults get involved with. Meeting someone on Snapchat for that purpose is often not a great place for this kind of connection. Someone asking you to send the money should be your first red flag.
If such a connection were to be made, you would want to vet and meet them first. These types of relationships can be just like any other and require a level of trust and mutual understanding. Any relationship kept strictly online can be due to someone hiding behind a layer of anonymity.
If you or someone you know has been scammed through Snapchat or is dealing with a potential scammer, there are a few key steps to take:
Even with those steps taken, you’ll want to take further action to protect yourself or your loved ones. At Digital Forensics, we specialize in helping people combat the bad actors of the internet.
We can track down scammers to unveil their identity using our proprietary set of tools. Our team is specially trained to help prevent the release of your sensitive information, give you the evidence you need to take legal action, and help you gain control of your situation.
Sources:
The Must-know Social Media Scamming Statistics 2024 | TechReport
The Inside Story Of Snapchat: The World’s Hottest App Or A $3 Billion Disappearing Act? | Forbes
Social media a gold mine for scammers in 2021 | FTC
Phishing | FTC
Cyper Tipline | NCMEC
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