Facebook Timeline haters beware. A report by InsideFacebook said that scammers are jumping at the opportunity to trick Facebook members in the midst of the Timeline backlash.
Pages have been developed giving users instructions on how to switch back to the old profile format. The pages are very deceptive in that users can invite their friends, click like buttons, download files, and even watch YouTube content.
The Report said that 16 Timeline-related scam pages have been found and have gained more than 71,000 likes in total. The largest fraudulent page has been around as long as two weeks with nearly 19,000 likes.
This could be a warning sign for Facebook to be more overt in educating Facebook members as many users seem unaware that the Timeline is permanent once a user accepts the new format and will be mandatory across the site in the coming weeks.
Facebook has had a rough time keeping up with the amount of scams on the website and often relies on users to report pages. Yet, with the Timeline change opportunities for new scams have sprung up and users need to understand how to protect themselves.
A Facebook Spokesperson said:
"We work hard to educate users on how to be safe through our blog and the Facebook and Facebook Security pages. We regularly update the Facebook Security page and its over 5M fans with tips and information about new threats. We also work with outside experts on education initiatives."
One easy step is for Facebook to warn users of the timeline scams on their security page, which at the time of writing Facebook has yet to do.
Please follow this author on Twitter @Tineka_S or add comments below.
