Preying on Emotions: Protect Your Accounts

People use ubiquitous platforms such as Facebook and Instagram to update friends and family about the ups-and-downs of life.  While social media can empower connections to keep us informed about important personal matters, scammers often hijack accounts to share fake posts, often including emotional details, with the end goal of convincing the accounts’ followers and connections to send money or take other action.  These scams are particularly dangerous because they appear to come from a trustworthy source, manipulate emotions, and spread rapidly.  Key steps of protecting yourself include:

• Be skeptical of emotional posts explicitly asking for money
• Verify the post directly with the purported poster – don’t just rely on social media
• Watch for red flags, such as payment requests in medium such as bitcoin, or requests to continue the communication in a second platform

To thwart becoming a “hijacking” victim in the first place, use long/unique account passwords, and two factor authentication, where available. 

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These tips are courtesy of the ACBA Legal Technology and e-Discovery Committee, and the April 2025  OUCH! Newsletter (a free monthly security awareness newsletter published by the SANS Institute).