What's a social media scam?

Fraudsters take advantage of the social media platform to create convincing fake customer service accounts. They pose as customer service agents, offering to help resolve your issue and ask for your account details. While you believe the issue is in the process of being resolved, fraudsters obtain your personal and banking information. 

How social media scams work

  1. You post a complaint about a product or service on social media.
  2. You get a response from a fake customer service account that offers to help resolve the issue.
  3. The fraudster asks you to send them a direct message with your account details. Sometimes, they may provide you with a link to enter your personal and banking information.
  4. You've become a victim to an angler phishing scam that's compromised your personal information and accounts.

Warning signs of social media scams

  • Shortened links that have a bunch of random letters
  • The social media reply has improper grammar and spelling mistakes
  • The social media reply shares a link to provide your personal and banking information
  • The customer service social media account has a misspelled username or email address and has limited post activity

Stay safe with our tips

  • Regularly check and update your privacy settings on your social media accounts. Ensure you're only sharing information that doesn't compromise your security.
  • Don't share any personal or business information, such as email addresses, home and company addresses or financial details.
  • Enable two-factor authentication, where applicable, for added security.
  • Never sign on to an account from a link you get by text message, email or through social media. Don't select any suspicious links, especially from people and companies you don't know.
  • If you’re unsure whether a social media account is real, use the customer service contact information on the company’s website to help resolve your issue.
  • Check the validity of a company’s social media account. Read the description to determine if it’s the company's official support account. For Twitter accounts, the blue verified badge confirms it's legitimate.
  • Don't sign on to your social media accounts while using a public Wi-Fi connection. Many of these networks are poorly secured, which leaves it open for fraudsters to get your personal data and account information. 

Learn more about social media scams

Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre Opens in a new window.

Report fraud when it happens and track the latest data on fraud in Canada.

The Little Black Book of Scams Opens in a new window.

Download the Canadian Competition Bureau's guide to scams in 8 different languages.

Canadian Bankers Association Opens in a new window.

Read about the latest news and trends in fraud awareness and prevention.