How to Protect yourself from Scams on Facebook and Twitter

I like to think of myself as a web-savvy user of IT. I can typically spot a scam e-mail or message a mile away, and when I’m unsure – a quick Google search usually provides me with the answers I require.

But we all have on-line friends who not only aren’t as savvy, but frankly, never, ever seem to learn – no matter how much you try to educate them. Facebook is rife with them. They’re the ones who are always being caught by the “OMG! I checked out who views my profile and you wouldn’t believe it!” but despite you telling them not to click these links, a similar message pops up on their Facebook timeline a few weeks (or even days) afterwards.

Safego from BitDefender

Now Anti-Virus vendor BitDefender has come to the rescue with a tool which can help protect you and your friends from both Facebook and Twitter scams.

Safego from BitDefender is an App which you authorise via your Facebook and/or Twitter page, and once installed, protects your account from all sorts of trouble including scams, spam, malware and private data exposure.

I setup Safego for both my Twitter and Facebook accounts within minutes, and it immediately searched both Social Networking sites to ensure that I wasn’t already connected to anyone who was a spammer or scammer.

There are a number of additional features to the tool which are useful, such as the app advising you how secure your account is in terms of revealing personal information. My own Facebook account has both a City and Hometown displayed, for instance, which Safego suggests I remove on privacy grounds.

How it works

Once installed, if you go to click a dodgy link on Facebook or Twitter (via the web interface at least), Safego will advise you not to do this. If your friend falls for a scam, it’ll warn you – and depending on your app setting preference, allow you to automatically tell them they’ve been scammed too.

The BitDefender Safego tool is free, and I’m going to recommend it to all my friends and family. Most are very web-savvy, but all of us can be fooled, and I’m hoping this tool will persuade some of my less savvy online friends (who seem to have an unhealthy predication to clicking dodgy links) to act in a safer manner.

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