There are always certain people trying to scam you for a quick buck or trying to take advantage of your kindness. The digital age didn’t really change things. It just gave scammers a new path to lucrative scams. Some of these people moved on from tricks over the phone. They go after their victims over social media, especially Facebook. Let’s face it, pretty much everyone uses this particular social platform, so there’s a pretty good chance you already encountered a scammer by now. So let’s take a look at the most commonly encountered Facebook scams and ways for you to avoid them.

1. Quizzes

Remember all those “what Game of Thrones character are you” type of quizzes? Well some of them aren’t made for your entertainment. There are scammers out there using your curiosity against you and are using these quizzes as a way to gain information on you. Some of the questions they might ask you involve information about your pet or family, or star sign and so on. Within all this information, the scammer hopes to find your secret answer to an account password.

The good news is that you don’t have to entirely give up on amusing yourself with a quiz. Just keep in mind to just a fictitious answer to any of your accounts’ secret password. Don’t use your mother’s real maiden name, simply lie instead.

2. Amazing Giveaways

Watch out for anything that is offered to you at no cost. While many giveaways are real because companies are trying to advertise and attract customers, some of them are fake and used to steal your private information. Beware of raffles and giveaways that require you to sign up to their newsletter with private information, especially any payment information. Before you take part in a giveaway, put your Internet detective hat on and research the company that is offering free goods. You can easily find out whether they are legit and not just some scammer out to steal credit card information.

3. Friend Requests

Watch out for friend requests coming from old friends who claim that they changed their Facebook account. Many scams happen when someone looks through your friend list and then starts impersonating that friend by making a new account. Most of the time these scammers will send you a link to some website under false pretense. Do not click on any such link or risk having your private information stolen. Be wary of any online connections and if you feel suspicious, don’t take your chances.

4. Donations

Do you know how, after a major catastrophe, new fundraisers are started and sent all over Facebook? Some of them are completely legit, but scammers take advantage of these situations and create their own fake fundraisers. By simply believing in any donation request, you might send your money to a crook instead of any victims. So before you follow any link, do a quick Google search and see what comes up. It’s better to be a bit suspicious and take a minute to do some research before funding a scammer by accident.