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Scam-Alert: Fake Dislike Buttons On Facebook And How To Protect Yourself

By Toni Matthews
Published on: 02:20 PST, Sep 25, 2015

The saying goes, “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.” Despite the decades of wisdom in these words, there are still those being taken in by blatant scams. It’s also a good rule of thumb for Facebook users when evaluating blatant scams, like the recent “dislike” button scam.

CBS News reports that Facebook members have been duped over the anticipated arrival of a “dislike” option. There’s just one problem: Facebook is not going to introduce a “dislike” option.

Although CEO Mark Zuckerberg stated the company was working to give the Facebook community an alternative to the “like” button, they purposely avoided referring to it specifically as a “dislike” button. Even so, that’s what many are calling it anyway. Scam artists appreciate the confusion and are eagerly taking advantage of it.

To trick Facebook users, the scam artists claim that the dislike button is currently available “by invite only.” According to hackread.com, clicking on a fake ad brings Facebook members to a page designed to look like the official Facebook page. To activate the fake button, the person is told to share the ad with multiple people, helping to spread what’s likely to be phishing tools or malware.

Naked Security said that what follows sharing the fake ad is a “bait-and-switch” type scam. Facebookers are then directed to blatantly unrelated pages where they are asked intrusive “survey” questions or asked to join a “get-rich-quick” scheme.

Falling victim to the “dislike” button scheme can mean putting your credit, bank accounts, or computers in danger. It’s strongly recommended that you take certain steps to protect yourself from falling victim to this latest round of Facebook scams.

First, trust legitimate sources. Sometimes that’s not your Facebook friend, who may have fallen victim to scammers. Features will usually show up automatically on your account, or you’ll be notified by email. News like this can often be seen as top trending news on reputable websites. You can also hover on a link and check the URL in your status bar. You should see “https://” and “facebook.com” together. If you don’t see an official link, despite claims of being such, don’t click.

Second, use common sense. Why would Facebook make an “invite only” feature available, but have it spread in a viral manner across the website? Also, why would Facebook have you jump through hoops by going to multiple sites when you should be able to activate a feature using your account settings? Apply this approach to anything claiming to be “official,” and you’ll easily avoid scams.

Finally, remember that Facebook has yet to label the secondary option and that they didn’t call it a “dislike” button. Therefore, anything that makes such a claim is never to be trusted. As of this writing, the feature isn’t available, and anyone claiming they can get it added to their account early is providing false information.

Remember not to fall for the “too good to be true” offers and your Facebook account and information should remain safe.

[Photo by Wikimedia Commons, CC-BY-SA 3.0]

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