Scams Target Gamers on Social Sites

Fraudsters Trick Users into Clicking and Start Draining Their Money

(CBS)  Farmville, Mafia Wars and Restaurant City are Internet-based games that can be played on sites like Facebook, where millions of people have signed up.

But click on the wrong places in these virtual worlds, and you could lose real money without ever knowing it.

CBS News Science and Technology Correspondent Daniel Sieberg reported where there's a popular online trend like these games, advertisers are sure to follow. But the legitimate ads aren't the problem -- it's the ones that promise a free trinket or virtual cash to be used in your game. And if you're tricked into clicking, they start draining your money.

With his mother's permission, 12-year-old Eli (whose last name was not to be disclosed), loves to dig around in his digital garden. He plants seeds, and is earning virtual money in the popular mini-game on Facebook called "Farmville."

Eli explained, "The object of the game is to become one of the best farmer. You can buy animals."

But what looked like a harmless waste of time for Eli turned into an insidious scam that racked up more than $50 in cell phone charges.

Amy Dunkin, Eli's mother said, "The things on my bill were a horoscope alert, a ringtone thing."

Sieberg explained how the scam works: Some third-party advertisers are preying on the rising popularity of mini-games on social networking sites like Facebook. Farmville is one of the most popular with more than 60 million registered users.

Caroline McCarthy, a staff writer at CNET said, "It's big business and there is a lot of money at stake."

Deceptive internet ads -- like an ad discovered by the blog "TechCrunch" -- offer Farmville currency just to fill out an IQ quiz. To get the results, users are asked to send their cell phone number and enter a code -- and the scam is complete.

Then a fee -- $10 a month or more -- starts appearing on their cell phone bill.

McCarthy said, "I would be wary of anything that offers you free surveys because the moment you put in personal info like your cell phone number or credit card number they are probably charging you."

Mark Pincus, chief executive officer of Zynga, the maker of Farmville says the ad approval process is being overhauled, adding: "We recognize it is our responsibility to ensure that offers which generate a bad user experience are not shown with any of our games."

For Eli and his mom, it's a tough lesson about the seedier side of the Internet.

Amy Dunkin said, "We tend to take it for granted that all their friends are doing it so maybe we don't monitor it as closely as we should. I'm certainly going to look over his shoulder a bit more when he uses the Internet."

Sieberg added that Amy Dunkin has said the charges were removed from her cell phone bill. But it's hard to know how many people have been affected by this scam, he said. Facebook and MySpace say they're also cracking down, according to Sieberg. If you're concerned, he said, do not provide your cell phone, e-mail address, or any personal banking information when clicking on one of these ads -- or don't click on them at all as tempting as they may be.

[sgoff61]

For the record, the article states that the child's last name would not be disclosed, but the mother's name was, and I found the child's Facebook profile very easily by searching for her name and looking at her friends list. So, not only was the mother very foolish to allow her child to have a Facebook account knowing that he was under the required minimum age, but she was also very careless to plaster her name and face as well as her child's first name and face all over national television. Using just the information visible to everyone on her Facebook page, I was able to very easily also find her home address and phone number and, if I can do it, so can anyone else. Why on earth would someone expose their child to the endless possibilities of pedophiles, sex offenders or whatever just to complain on the news that they were scammed because they allowed such a young child to do whatever he wanted on the internet? Isn't that an invitation for disaster? I'm sorry but, in my opinion, anyone who would put their child in such a spotlight just for the sake of getting their name in the news isn't much of a mother.

[sgoff61]

I don't understand why this is news. I have an account on both Facebook and MySpace, and I have played many games and used many applications on each of them. In the process, I, too, have considered many of the so-called "free" offers that are connected to many games/applications as a way for users to get points, tokens or some other intangible incentive. Like someone else said, if the offer requires only an email address, I use a "disposable" one because it is so obvious that all they are doing is farming addresses to sell to spammers. But if they ask for any more personal information such as a phone number, physical address or credit card number, I simply back out. Since there would be no reason for them to ask for such information unless they were planning to bill you for something, I can't believe that any adult would be foolish enough to fall for it. As far as the kids are concerned, these social networking sites require that you be at least 13 to register. At that age, they should be old enough to know better than to pass out their cell phone number to strangers and, if they don't know better, then they have no business with a cell phone to begin with. And they should not even have access to their parents' credit cards, so that shouldn't be an issue either. So, the way I see it, if a parent knowingly allows a younger child to use the sites, or even if the child (whether they are under 13 or not) uses the sites without the parents' knowledge and hasn't been taught to protect their personal information, then the parents SHOULD be held responsible. Of course, I realize that parents can't monitor their children every minute of every day, especially since they now have access to the internet even in school, but if they would spend the time that they are with them teaching them right from wrong, how to act responsibly, and how to protect themselves and their privacy, this would happen a lot less often.

[sgoff61]

For the record, the article states that the child's last name would not be disclosed, but the mother's name was, and I found the child's Facebook profile very easily by searching for her name and looking at her friends list. So, not only was the mother very foolish to allow her child to have a Facebook account knowing that he was under the required minimum age, but she was also very careless to plaster her name and face as well as her child's first name and face all over national television. Using just the information visible to everyone on her Facebook page, I was able to very easily also find her home address and phone number and, if I can do it, so can anyone else. Why on earth would someone expose their child to the endless possibilities of pedophiles, sex offenders or whatever just to complain on the news that they were scammed because they allowed such a young child to do whatever he wanted on the internet? Isn't that an invitation for disaster? I'm sorry but, in my opinion, anyone who would put their child in such a spotlight just for the sake of getting their name in the news isn't much of a mother. And, come to think of it, both Daniel Sieberg and CBS were equally as careless in allowing this story to air with their names included.

[acousticb1-2009]

What i think is the problem is not only that but the ones who did the ads ie awarded the points some people were getting very angry such as those who played they could deny you what you completed and still you did your part and showed proof. I am still out 131 yocash on yoville because of one of the 3rd party peoples on the ads. ZYnga took fishville down until things could be fixed.

[meerly_exsisting]

I have seen the IQ test ad that adds the $9.99 per month after giving out your phone number. The thing that makes me mad about this other then the sneaky way they act like its free (luckily I read small print) Is the way they try to get you to take this quiz by showing pictures of your friends and posting their IQ scores and say things like "Your friend Patrick scored a 129... Can you beat their score??" They try to trick you into it by acting as if all your friends have taken their test.. When in fact my friend Patrick is my friend in real life and I asked him out of curiosity if he had taken their test, since he doesn't seem the type to pay for junk on his phone or even take the test and he said that no until then standing next to me at my computer he had never even seen what I was talking about. Its also internet slander because it has shown very low IQ's for some of my friends who have taken certified IQ tests and are above average / borderline genius. I wonder if these companies are U.S based if there would be a way to at least get them in court for that and hopefully much more.

[ladyraestewa]

Whenever I'm asked for an E-mail address from a business I have never used before, I create a new E-mail to use. It keep my legitimate E-mail free from spam and the like. However,when asked for a phone number for something that wants me to do anything for "free" I'm out of there immediately.

[rondivoo]

I am not a facebook or myspace or any other social networking user either. I agree with get_down, email and a phone are all I need to stay in touch with family and friends. And, when I say "friends"... I mean just that... REAL friends. I have no need for a bunch of FAKE friends and can't for the life of me understand why so many people do have a need for FAKE friends. Why these websites are popular is beyond my understanding. I think they are ridiculous.

[tngreen]

What I can't understand is why some people have such an emotional reaction against online networking. In the low-technology past, many famous people such as writers, artists, musicians, and politicians maintained lengthy correspondences with people whom they never met. Often, these letters wind up in collections after the person's death, and they give us insight into the artist's mind, as well as to the culture of the times. How is Facebook substantially different? What is the moral objection to corresponding with people whom you have not nor will ever meet in person?

Beyond mere correspondence, social networking sites are also excellent organizing tools for political and social activists. They enable us to reach a large number of people easily and inexpensively. I'm sure that the CBS readership can think of a hundred other good reasons to use these sites as well.

I think that what's ridiculous is these narrow-minded attitudes.

[TallMaryAnn]

This is running rampet, and not all carriers are symthathic. I had it happen to me, for only 2 of the $9.99 charges, and after the explanation given me by Verizon, paid half and they wrote off half.

Then this month I got another one, and can't even find out what the content was, since Verizon doesn't keep my text messages, and my phone crashed so I have no records there. Even though I can see back to back responses to the number, without proof, I had to pay the charges.

Seems like if it is your child that this happens to, the carrier writes it all off, but if you are an adult, they leave the responsibility of reading the details on your 2" screen to you, and you have to pay.

This is wrong.

This should be illegal.

[meerly_exsisting]

I have written a comment below but it was more addressing what you said about this should be illegal some of what they are doing is most likily illegal cause i have see them post pictures and IQ's of my friends who did not give them permission to use them for marketing and also posting scores next to their names saying a score that they didn't get because they never took the test I am assuming that in some way is illegal. Its just depending on where the buisness is located and who wants to take them to court that matters cause if they are located in another country its too much work to track them down and if they are located here it depends on who has the resorces to spend the money to file the lawsuit take time off work ect..

[get_down]

Not a Facebook nor MySpace user. Personally I think just the Email Address and a phone are more than adequate to communicate with my friends and relatives. Absolutely don't believe that need to make life more complicated than it has to be. Retired and enjoying baby-sitting with my Grand-Daughter whenever I can, already feel like living in heaven!