From being a SHEIN ambassador, to helping a “friend” get back into their Instagram account with a link, social media is filled with scam artists trying to steal your account or your money. I’ve compiled a list of the top social media scams I’ve run across on Instagram and Facebook. I’ll continue to update the list as I uncover new ones. Most of these include a link to a full post where you can read the details and get advice on how to deal with it if you’ve been scammed.

Top Scams on Instagram and Facebook:

SHEIN Influencer Scam

This one starts with a message letting you know you have been chosen for the SHEIN Influencer program and sounds like a great opportunity! They’ll have you choose 4-8 pieces from the website and offer to pay you about $3000 a month or more. They’ll even send you a real looking contract. The catch? You just have to pay them a small shipping fee up front. Once you do that, you’ll never hear from them again because the entire offer is fake. Click here to read the full story on the SHEIN influencer scam.

Congrats! You’ve won a SHEIN Gift Card

The scammers are really hitting SHEIN hard! I can’t get on Instagram without getting 3 or 4 notifications daily, always from some new very fake profile, that I’ve won a SHEIN gift card. These are so obviously fake I cake believe anyone is falling for it, but they keep trying so somebody must be!

Benefit, MAC, It Cosmetics, etc. Influencer Scam

This one is very similar to the SHEIN scam, but it comes from various cosmetics companies. Same set-up: choose items from their site and then send them shipping money. Click here to read more about the Cosmetics Influencer Scam.

I Want to Use Your Photos for a Mural or Painting

This one happens primarily on Instagram, and they’ll ask for permission to use your photos for a mural or a painting. They just need you to cash a check and then send them money for supplies. The great thing is that you get to keep some of the money for yourself. The bad thing is that the whole thing is fake and the check is fake too. Click here to read more about this Fake Check Scam.

Tap to Reset Your Password

This one looks like it comes from someone you know, but that’s because they were already hacked. They’ll need help logging back into Instagram, but for some reason they need help from a friend to verify the account. They’ll send you a log-in link, but ask that you send them a screen shot. They then use that to hack into your account and change your password so you lose your account. Click here to read more about the Tap to Reset Password Instagram Scam.

Jewelry Ambassador Scam

This one isn’t as bad as the others, as it’s more of a rip-off than a scam. I get multiples of these every day from companies like Ghost Jewels, The Creepy Ones, Luximina Jewels. They’ll offer you free jewelry as long as you pay the shipping. Then you promote the jewelry to your friends. The catch is that the shipping you are paying actually covers the cost of the junk jewelry you’ll be getting. Click here to read more about the Instagram Jewelry Ambassador scam, and see examples of the jewelry and the real prices.

We Want to Pay to Advertise on Your Facebook Page

This is another one I get regularly, and was actually scammed by myself a few years ago! My Facebook page was stolen, and it was all my fault, They were nice and walked me through the whole process of them stealing my page. Before I knew what was happening, I was removed as admin and couldn’t do anything. They started placing really weird videos on my page one after another. It was awful and embarrassing. I finally got my page back, but so many people reported my page for violations and spam that I still haven’t gotten access back to monetization three years later. Click here to read more about the Facebook Ads Scam.

Tony Terry Online Concert Scam

This is one of the newest ones I’ve gotten. It seems someone has stolen Tony Terry’s Facebook page and is sending out messages claiming to be his manager. If you post on his page about the scam, they’ll remove it, but I happen to get on his page before some of the messages were removed. It’s a very similar process as the ads on the Facebook page, where someone will helpfully walk you through the process. They’ll want access to your page for an online concert. Everything about this is fake. Click here to read more about the Fake Tony Terry Online Concert Scam.

Tips to Avoid Being Scammed

Always watch out for those “too good to be true” offers! Here’s a few things to watch out for that scream “SCAM!”

1. They claim to be from a company (like SHEIN) but have a Gmail address. A real person from the company will have an e-mail from the company’s domain.
2. They ask for money upfront. A real influencer program is not going to offer you thousands of dollars and then ask for $50 to cover shipping.
3. They claim to be sponsored by “Nike, Puma, etc.” I have no idea why they always go for these, but the Facebook ads people and the Tony Terry people always mention these as sponsors.
4. They want access to your page. Just say NO! Do not give anyone you don’t know any kind of access to your account.
5. They want to send you to cash a check for them and send them money. This is a classic check fraud scam.
6. They don’t communicate well. If the message sounds funny and they don’t seem to have a handle on the English language when replying to questions, this is a red flag.
7. They get very pushy when you hesitate. Some of these scammers can be quite pushy and they are always in a hurry to get you to do what they ask. They can also get very angry and threatening, especially the mural scammers.

When in doubt, Google it! Hopefully you’ve run across this page before you got scammed. If it saved you the headache, please leave a comment and let me know which scam you’ve run into! And if you’ve found a scam you don’t see on the list, let me know so I can look into it.