Vicious rumours...

Getting staff on social media is throwing up some interesting dilemmas. With many users who are signing up to Facebook and Twitter not having used the platforms before they are vulnerable to what more internet savvy users would immediately recognise as scams or viruses.

I'm sure by now every regular Twitter user will have received a private message telling them that someone is spreading nasty rumours about them. Its a clever ruse - people who don't recognise it as a scam will immediately be anxious to see what is being said about them and as the message comes from someone in their network they are more likely to trust the information.

These messages have caused some anxiety among staff who didn't recognise it as a scam, call someone in communications for advice or Google the problem.

We've all become more aware of bogus doorstep callers, suspicious phone calls and emails containing dodgy links. Social media offers a new set of scams and opportunities for hackers.

Is the best thing to do to alert people to all the potential mishaps?

To tell them not to click on links that don't seem right?

A warning about vicious rumours from a friend or colleague wouldn't fall into this category. There are new scams and viruses all the time - it won't always be that the Comms and Marketing team are the first to receive the bogus messages in time to alert other staff.

We can however advise people stick to the basics and advice (from Dell and also available in an infographic): 

• Don't post that you're going on holiday and leaving the house empty. 
• Don't post too much personal information.
• Use a secure password so you are less likely to be hacked automatically
• Keep computer security settings up to date
• Be aware that apps and add ons may be accessing your personal information

The only way to learn to recognise these scams is to become more savvy generally. The more people use these channels the easier it will be for them to recognise the potential for misuse.

This method of learning will however favour the younger 'have a go' generation who tend not to worry so much about the consequences over the older generation who are used to being taught how to do things in a specific way with specific parameters and are less experimental in their approach.

As the social media 'leaders' within the organisation we can't stay up to date with every scam going and sending out warning emails will only make new users fear everything, preventing them from being able to use the channels successfully.

For those who want to know what's out there here are some lists of scams that you might fall victim to:

Maximise Social Media: Scam Alert!
Network world: 15 Social Media Scams
Times Colonist: Top 10 Scams
Consumer Affairs New Zealand: Social media scams

If nothing else there could be some useful marketing lessons to be learned from these about incentives to click through!