Q. Kim, I saw a Facebook post over the holidays that asked me to send a card to a wounded soldier. It said to address it to "Any Recovering Soldier" at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington. I loved the sentiment, but didn't Walter Reed close? I'd like to know of a legitimate way to send some support to our armed service members if possible. Do you know any?
- Henry, from Boston, MA, listens to my national radio show on WBZ 1030 AM.
A. You're a keen scam detector, Henry. The Walter Reed Army Medical Center closed in 2011 and is now the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. It's not in Washington, D.C., but in nearby Bethesda, MD.
In addition, the postal service won't deliver a package addressed to "Any Soldier." That could put our brave soldiers in serious danger! You need to address the package to a soldier by name.
There's more you need to know before you send a package. That's why I started Operation Komando. It's a special page on my site that not only tells you how to send a package, but has 12 different units currently serving that would love to receive your support, Henry.
This "Any Soldier" hoax is just an example of how easy it is to get scammed on Facebook. This seemingly nice hoax will only waste a little bit of your time. Other scams can steal your identity or give your computer a nasty virus.
The easiest scam to fall for on Facebook is a free giveaway. You'll see everything from gift cards to free tablets, laptops and smartphones.
It's very rare for a company to give away something through Facebook. When it does, it's usually promoted on that company's Facebook page or website. If you check their page or site and don't see something, don't bother.
Almost as exciting as winning the latest gadget is seeing the latest viral video. However, many "videos" posted on Facebook aren't videos at all. They'll ask you to update your video player before you can watch and, when you do, you'll be downloading a virus and sharing the scam with your friends.
This one is easy to avoid. Type the video's title into a Google search. It should pop up with a link to it on YouTube. If YouTube or other results don't pop up, it's probably a scam.
You can also ask your friend if they intentionally posted it. They might not even know it's there!
Another common scam offers to change your Facebook layout. Some, like the dangerous Facebook Black scam, offer to change your site's colors. Others just say that can give you back Facebook's "old" layout.
There is no official way to change your Facebook layout. Social Fixer can change the way you see it, but nothing will change the way other people see it.
Another scam that isn't even possible is finding out who has visited your profile. This old gem has been around almost as long as Facebook itself.
Facebook has made it clear several times: There is no way for any app to show you who has visited your profile. Any download that says differently is either a prank or a virus. You can, however, see who has unfriended you using these sites.
These are the most popular scams, but it's really just the tip of the iceberg. Facecrooks is updated with scams as they break. I update my Facebook page to sniff out scams as I find them, so 'Like' my page on Facebook too.
Facebook isn't the only site where scammers abound, though. Here are three more online scams you have to stay vigilant against.
- Twitter is loaded with scam accounts that want you to follow them. You can easily weed out scam Twitter accounts with this site.
- Could you tell a legitimate social media business from a scam one? I'll give you some tips on telling the difference.
- Social media scams are growing, but they're still not as rampant as spam. Find out if an email is a scam with these tips.
