Easy scams are costing users of Facebook and PayPal millions

Victims are tricked to send money voluntarily to their Facebook friend’s bank account, just to find out later that their ‘friend’ wasn’t really someone they knew at all. Most of the fraudsters behind this scam are from the US, UK, or Russia, and for many this scam is their main source of income, given the fact that a typical attacker can earn USD 2.500 per day.

How does the scam look like? The Facebook account is hacked using stolen login details from the dark web. After that, an attacker uses Messenger to contact several friends, telling them that they are owed money but cannot access their own PayPal account to receive it.

With the money received, the victim sends that same amount to the hacker using the bank account details provided. The next time they check their PayPal account, they find that the amount received has been reversed. This is a chargeback, where the attacker of the money has asked for it to be reversed using PayPal’s standard systems. The victim is unable to do the same with their transfer to the attacker’s account, there is no such safety net with a bank transfer.