Beware The Dangers of Facebook

With Facebook’s popularity growing to almost 200 million users world-wide, it should be no great surprise that the hackers and scam artists are there too. Following are a few smart steps business entrepreneurs can take to protect themselves from fraud on Facebook and other social networking sites.

Recently, I have received messages from people in my contact list that are obviously not legitimate. One clue is that the words are grossly miss-spelled and with double letters like “yoourr”. Another clue is that it is an odd message like “Our spy-cam caught you on video, go to [link].” and there is no subject line.

The links in these messages usually contain viruses! Even if the link says “YouTube” or a familiar blog, don’t click on them. I have usually received several of the same message every day.

1. Report the message as spam without opening it.
2. Facebook will be alerted to the problem and the message will be automatically deleted from your inbox.
3. If the sender had their profile hacked, they usually have been told by friends and they will not be banned for long.

The simple truth is that if you are on Facebook or other social networking sites to network with business colleagues, you probably don’t know the majority of your contacts personally. So, if even someone who is in your contacts list messages you, do not trust the email if something is not quite right.

As a last note, take care of the information you are supplying on your profile and Info tab.

1. Do not post your birth year. When you enter the year, fudge a year or two so your exact age won’t be listed. Business contacts do not need that kind of information.
2. For your Hometown, be general, like “East Bay”. Or list a town nearby or one you lived in after the town you were born in.
3. Use discretion when filling out your favorites sections under the info tab. Many financial institutions ask just these kinds of questions as their security questions.
4. Remember, in the case of a business profile, less is more. When networking with business colleagues, we usually just have time to scan profiles, so make them reader friendly. Be concise about what you have to offer or how you will solve a colleague’s problem.
5. Create a separate profile for your personal friends and family. They have little to no interest in your business but would like to see more of your personal life.

The purpose of creating a profile on Facebook for your MLM business is to Network with other people who are interested in the same business topics you are. Give a little personal info so you are a real person, but not so much that you are hand feeding the hackers and crooks your personal information.

When I started Network Marketing, I felt like I had arrived in a foreign country. I had to learn a new language, customs, and survival. The internet is full of training programs and opportunities. How do you make sense of it all and pick the right one? I specialize in mentoring and training MLM colleagues until they achieve their goals. I invite you to visit my blog at http://mlmnetworkingwomen.com/.