At one point, messages would come on social networks about someone from a distant country contacting you and saying that one of your relatives with a similar last name has passed away and left a huge fortune behind. Now, this person from the bank wants to transfer this money to you as the heir. However, the catch is that a certain amount of money needs to be paid for this financial transaction. The greedy citizen, thinking they have become rich, would trust and pay the transaction fee. But afterwards, they would hear nothing from the bank person or the deceased relative’s fortune. Of course, this was an old method that is no longer in fashion. Scamming through social networks has found newer and more widespread methods in our world today. In February 2022, it was reported that according to the US Federal Trade Commission, scams on social networks have increased by 18 times. (1) Today, in Iran, the work of online scammers has reached a point where they use excuses like

Social networks are tools. They are social structures, made up of individuals or organizations who are connected to each other through one or more dependencies, such as ideas, financial transactions, kinship, etc. on the internet. In fact, in these networks, a type of trust exists among members based on their dependencies and relationships within the network. This trust can sometimes be used to harm the user and become a means for fraud. The role of virtual social networks in the occurrence or prevention of crime, or their impact on it, has been studied worldwide. However, what our country is facing is the rapid influx of communication technologies and the virtual world, which requires appropriate cultural education. In fact, internet social networks, like any other modern phenomenon, have emerged in our country, but cultural and educational work must be done to use them effectively. It should be noted that the tradition of governance in Iran is negative instead of cultural and educational work.

However, online fraud also has its own unique methods. It may not be a bad idea to mention some common methods of fraud through social networks here.

The first method is scamming through investment. A message is sent to the user that they can make money by investing in digital currency, real estate, and other movable and immovable properties. The targeted user is then told that in order to speed up the process or complete a task in this regard, they must deposit money into a personal account. In fact, the offer is so good and beyond expectations that the targeted user cannot resist. The money is deposited and there is no further news from the person who sent the message and the investment is never seen again.

Another method is through emotions. You may have received a message on social networks stating that someone is financially incapable and if they can’t pay their rent this month, they will have to throw their household items on the street, and so on. In many cases, vulnerable citizens, lonely individuals, or civil and social activists who have a hand in helping others become the target of this method. Criminals try to gain the trust of their target by creating an online connection and using various tricks such as sending fake photos or gifts for different occasions. They then tell a sad story and use it to ask for money from their victim. This method is not only prevalent on social networks but also on dating websites. A story about someone’s life that you have been chatting with for a while can influence you to send money to the criminal for help, and then you never hear from your virtual friend again.

Another way is to use the citizens’ demand to buy at a lower price than the market price and the logic of “the cheaper, the better” and “the free, the better”. There are also many advertisements. From online advertisements on social networks to advertisements using celebrities and influencers who have an influence on their audience. Here, with the technique of repetition, they present their fake products as reality to the community. Some of these websites are fake and unreal. But they may not be fake. They may be a company with an address and details. But the services they claim to provide and the products they sell are officially below market price and even below the production company, and they call it “discount”. Even a naive user who is looking for a specific product and has seen the advertisements, trusts and buys from this website or sends money to that company for the purchase of that product. In this situation, money is lost, and it is possible that due to the storage of the person’s account

Many users are present on social networks such as X (formerly known as Twitter) and Facebook. These users may come across accounts that introduce them to links for entering a certain website or even their own bank. At first glance, everything seems fine. But when you look closer, the address of the website or bank is not correct. There is an extra letter or space in the website address. However, users, due to the speed of their work and their trust in the specific website, go there and enter their username and password. They may even gain access to their desired website. However, in the meantime, their username and password are stored elsewhere by cyber criminals and their login information is actually stolen. For example, on X network, a person sees a link that starts like this: facbook.com. Well, it looks like Facebook. But it is missing an “e”. The user, on a 4 or 5 inch mobile phone, does not pay attention to the missing “e

Many social networks have provided the ability to share live and direct video images for their users. But sometimes this leads to theft of user information. Theft in this area is done with a simple theory. Online scammers comment on a sports team’s social page on Facebook and post a link that the user thinks by clicking on it, they can see live and direct video images of the sports match. But the problem here is that the link redirects the user to a fake site and asks them to enter their personal information in order to access the live video images. When this information is entered, the user does not have access to any video images and this opportunity is only provided for the online scammer to easily carry out their financial thefts. (5) Imagine you are in a hurry to quickly watch a football game on the internet. This rush and carelessness is the same as having your information stolen.

Another method is the existence of fake polls, predictions, and online competitions. They use enticing promises such as if you win this competition, you will make the correct prediction and win an iPhone 15, for example. In this space, internet scammers take advantage and connect themselves to posts that are shared on social networks in this regard. Sometimes it becomes very difficult to distinguish between a real online competition and a fake one. Both spaces have a very similar appearance. In both spaces, an image of the logo of the competition organizer is presented and the questions are asked in a very similar way. (5) But this forgery is the same and users fall into the trap and lose their money.

The methods for scamming users do not end with what has been mentioned. In many cases, there are one or more methods used for online scams for each social group. For example, artists have fallen into the trap of NFT scammers multiple times on social media and the internet. These scammers use methods such as rug pulling (a scam method in the world of cryptocurrencies, auctions, pump and dump related to cryptocurrencies), fake NFTs, and various phishing methods to scam artists. (6)

However, users are not defenseless against these internet scams, as they can use social networks to protect themselves. The biggest defense for users in this area is their awareness. For example, they can equip their accounts with “Two-factor Authentication”. However, considering the access of Iranian security devices to citizens’ text messages, this two-factor authentication can sometimes be dangerous. Therefore, it seems that for users in Iran, using authentication apps such as Google Authenticator may be more helpful than using this two-factor authentication system. In addition, they should think twice before opening any links, emails, or clicking on any news or images, and make sure whether what they are clicking on or opening is safe or not. They should also be careful to use a variety of characters and letters, both uppercase and lowercase, when choosing a password, and never share personal information such as email and phone number with the public. And of course, for a user who wants to be safe in this area, it is necessary to

Internet fraud and the use of virtual space and social networks for fraud is a new phenomenon. For example, the European Digital Services Act only became effective in August 2023. In February 2023, it was reported that members of the British Parliament accused Meta (the parent company of platforms like Facebook) of not taking online fraud on its platforms seriously. The Iranian Cyber Police, established in 2010, is mostly involved in dealing with critics and activists in the virtual space, and it is clear that it is unable to combat internet fraud. In this situation, users themselves must increase their awareness and knowledge about the virtual space, methods of fraud, and how to protect themselves, and be cautious. The virtual space is a tool, but it has been infiltrated by thieves and robbers, and users must be careful about where they leave their tracks. Thieves in the virtual space take advantage of users’ lack of knowledge. Therefore, it should be noted that knowledge is a weapon that makes

Notes:

1- US Federal Trade Commission: Fraud on social networks has increased 18 times, Mehr News Agency, 11 Bahman 1400.

2- Safdari, Mir Hossein, fraud under the pretext of observing the electronic notification of the court, the website of Bousazeh Publications (Civilica), February 24, 2023.

3- The end of the year and the hot market of furniture fraud on the internet, Berna News Agency, February 22, 1402.

4- Maddi, Mohammad Ali, statistics of fraud from social networks according to Chakavak Shahr research, Chakavak Shahr Innovators Company website, 2 Esfand 1402.

5 Ways of Scamming on Social Networks!, Asr Iran, 9 Khordad 1395.

6 Common NFT Scams; Artists Falling into Scammers’ Trap, Bitpin Academy, 6 Azar 1402.

7- Ways to protect against internet fraud, Deutsche Welle Persian, 17 November 1402.

8- Implementation of the European Digital Services Act begins; which platforms and social networks will be affected?, EuroNews, August 25, 2023.

9- By representatives of the British Parliament: Meta does not take online fraud seriously, Mehr News Agency, February 19, 2024.