We've all seen a lot of emotional posts and images on Facebook -- and it's almost second nature for many people to "like" just about anything, whether to acknowledge you saw the post or just because you're so used to it by now.
But before you "like" just any post, you need to be aware of how scammers are taking advantage of this involuntary impulse to click on Facebook.
While some of those posts about children in need are real, most of them are fake. They are part of a scam called "like farming" that crooks use to trick unsuspecting Facebook users into handing over info or becoming a victim of some other type of scam.
Scammers post images and stories that will grab users' attention in order to entice them to like, comment and share. As more people engage with the post, the more it continues to pop up in users' news feeds — which means more exposure for the scammers.
You may hesitate and wonder if the story is actually real, but since thousands of other people have commented or liked it, what harm could it really do if you simply just like the post or or page to see what it's about?
Unfortunately, it can do a lot of harm.
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