October 2, 2016-How to Protect Social Media Accounts from FraudSMU SMC

It has come to the attention of the online paying service called Paypal that individuals have created a fake Paypal Support page on Twitter. How can we protect social media accounts from fraud?

This past summer, it has come to Paypal’s attention that individuals created a fake Paypal Support page on Twitter, and that they have been using it to their advantage. According to CSO, these individuals monitor the real Paypal Support page to the see remarks and commentary from Paypal’s customers. They then respond to these questions and reviews by directing Paypal users to the fake site where they are able to receive personal and account information. This fake Paypal account is extremely unacceptable, and it is crucial that we find a way to protect social media accounts from fraud.

In today’s society, social media has become one of the most efficient ways of communicating. With this being said, the more popular social media becomes, the more of a threat it becomes to brands and companies around the world. According to a study by Proofpoint, nearly 600 new fraudulent brand accounts were created each month between April and June 2016 on social media sites Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram. This study proclaims that around 5,000 social media accounts are connected with 10 top global brand names, and one in every five of those accounts was fraudulent. This information makes it clear how crucial it is that we increase the protection of social media to prevent criminal activity.

How Can We Prevent this From Happening?

Fraudulent websites are not only illegal, but they are harmful towards companies, brands and customers. It is absolutely crucial to protect social media accounts from fraud as soon as possible for the sake of society and the economy. According to the CEO of PhishLabs, John LaCour says, “If customers go looking for [your page] and can’t find one, they may find the bad guys instead. Many social media sites offer icons or flags that identify legitimate sites.” In regards to celebrity accounts, a blue check mark is usually next to their name on
social media services such as Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Another way to prevent fraud and protect social media accounts is to stay active and check it regularly. Shanna Gordon, a client services director at BrandProtect says, “Companies are starting to understand that even if they’re not active on social media, they need to be monitoring it because other people could be active on their behalf.” Even if users have nothing to post on their social media accounts, they need to check it on a daily
basis to ensure others do not have the ability to access their account information.

Eliminating fraudulent sites can be easy, but individuals need to react quickly for it to be successful. According to CSO, Paypal security teams focus on identifying fraudulent sites and then reacting quickly, usually with the help of its worldwide customer base.