“Hey dear”. “I want sex.” “Here’s my number.”
Have you received such a message or similar on Facebook Messenger from strangers recently? Then you are not alone.
Very many Norwegians have been sent such messages in recent days. Many of the messages are about sex, and they contain a link.
Common to all the messages is that it is a scam.
– DO NOT PROVIDE INFO: Senior adviser Hans Marius Tessem in NorSIS says people must not give scammers information. Photo: NORSIS
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– We experience that such messages to people go in waves, and now we are in such a wave, says senior adviser Hans Marius Tessem in the Norwegian Center for Information Security and Slettmeg.no.
That’s why you’re affected
Tessem says that the reason it is going in waves is because the scammers have once again gotten around the spam filter to Facebook.
He says that Facebook must constantly change the spam filter a bit to prevent such messages from getting through.
It is unknown at this time what he will do after leaving the post. But Tessem says that it looks like the messages are spreading in networks.
If you have accepted a request, such as accepting a friend request from a fake profile, the scam profile may send messages to people on your friends list.
In other words, if you have not accepted such a friend request, someone on your friends list may have done so, and therefore you receive such messages, Tessem explains.
– MESSAGES: Screenshot from the inbox of a woman that TV 2 has been in contact with who has received messages from suspicious profiles since February. Photo: Private
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– Such mixtures are spread around in networks. It spreads like a disease, says the senior adviser.
He also says that this is now experienced as a wave because the vast majority of Norwegians have the most Facebook friends in Norway.
Not much to do
You can change your settings so that you do not receive such messages. But then you must also be aware that you do not receive messages from people who are not friends of yours.
Beyond that, there is little each of us can do to protect ourselves from such messages, according to Tessem.
– Unfortunately, there is little you can do about it, apart from reporting the message to Facebook. Otherwise, you simply have to ignore it, he says.
Tessem says that Facebook is responsible for managing the spam filters in a way that you should not receive such messages.
Warns, especially men
The links that come with the messages lead you to pages where you have to enter your password and username, credit card information or other information.
Tessem warns people against filling in such information.
– This is fraud. Do not provide such information, he emphasizes.
Men are the group that seems to get the most such messages. But TV 2 knows that several women have also received such messages.
– Very often there are pictures of beautiful girls on these profiles, and it is often men who are the recipient. It is not difficult to understand that what they are playing on something that makes men go on to a greater extent than women, says Tessem.
– REMOVE SPAM: Facebook says they are actively working to remove spam. Photo: Olivier Douliery / AFP / NTB
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– Known issue
Communication consultant Camilla Nordsted in Facebook Norden says that they work actively to remove spam, among other things with the help of artificial intelligence.
– This is a well-known problem that there are unfortunately people who deliberately try to deceive and mislead others, and we see that behavior from time to time also finds its way to our platforms, she writes in an e-mail to TV 2.
Even though they have spam filters, Nordsted says that the actors behind it are inventive and constantly try to circumvent the systems.
Facebook has its own teams that work dedicatedly to crack down on such messages. Nordsted encourages people to report content and profiles that people believe violate the guidelines.
– In general, we also encourage people to be wary of suspicious links and messages from strangers, writes Nordsted.
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