Spam and Scam edition

This week there was a lot of news related to spamming and scamming on social networks.  Specifically, most of the news surrounded issues on Facebook.

Scamming on Facebook to make a quick buck

I recently read a fascinating and provocative article over at TechCrunch that was written by an insider to the spam world about spamming on social networks such as Facebook.  I would highly suggest reading the article if you have the time.  The real takeaway here is that spamming will always exist, especially when networks or platforms are brand new.  It is amazing to see just how much money was being made by directing traffic through spam.  Learning about spam helps teach us more about the ways in which the average person uses social networks.  Who clicks on certain links and why?  Call it a lesson in scam psychology.

Even the games can scam money from you

Have you ever seen those requests to play games on Facebook?  Maybe you have seen posts from friends that proudly display their latest game achievements.  Guess what, it is big business.  These seemingly free games are usually based around some sort of internal currency system.  For example, in order to purchase a widget in your game, you need to have a certain amount of currency.  Many times the way to obtain or “earn” this currency is through downloading other games by the same developer or filling out some sort of survey.  This is where things can get “scammy” and rather unethical.  The problem is that often times you are asked to submit personal information that is then relayed or sold to a third party.  Even worse, users sometimes inadvertently sign up for some kind of paid service.  The point?  Free doesn’t always mean free, so be careful as to what you are clicking on and what kind of information you are submitting.  To read more, check out this great post on Computerworld.

Facebook wins spam lawsuit

Ok, so there is some light at the end of the tunnel.  Recently, Facebook won a lawsuit against a prolific spammer.  Unfortunately, this is the same guy who has been spamming for years.  In the lawsuit, Facebook was awarded $711 million in damages.  It is unlikely that Facebook will actually collect seeing that the defendant still owes MySpace to the tune of $234 million for the same exact thing.  Why do you need to care about all of this?  Social networks are trying to cut down on the amount of spam and there are laws that govern this kind of stuff.  Laws that are being enforced.  If you want to learn more, feel free to check out the legalese behind the Federal Trade Commission’s CAN-SPAM Act.

Matt Smedley