Dear Lizzie
Recently, I noticed that an old friend from college seemed to be promoting cryptocurrencies on his Facebook page. Part of me wants to text her and ask her, “Are you sure you’re okay?”
I doubt her Facebook page was hacked unless there was some way to create a very convincing photo of her holding a diploma from some…cryptocurrency institute. And she posts client success stories in a way that makes you think she’s involved in an MLM scam.
Is this something? Should I call her and ask if she’s okay? Or is it better to invest?
facebook friends
Dear Facebook Friends,
I think it’s very exciting that even at 42 years old, I can still learn something completely new. Even if it is a virtual currency MLM.
After doing a little research (it was just a light Google search, I can’t bring myself to type in “research”), it appears that your friend may have been hacked, or that she was certified by a certification body. It seems possible. A website that certifies “Bitcoin Professionals”.
Is it a scam? Reports vary. Some Reddit users think so, and it sounds pretty fraudulent to me, but they run a genuine website that issues these certificates and gets 64% from something called ScamAdvisor. There are genuine companies that may or may not be scams themselves.
I’m not a financial expert, so I don’t know anything about Bitcoin. But I know a thing or two about social media and relationships.
If you’re close enough to the person that you can contact them in another way other than Facebook, you can say, “Hello! How are you?” “The message may be warranted. You can also add, “I just wanted to make sure your Facebook account hasn’t been hacked!”
However, this is not how you should message on Facebook. Because if you get hacked, you might end up having a conversation with that hacker, which is always weird and potentially dangerous.
If you’re not close enough to have another means of communication, leave it alone.
I’ve seen a lot of people get into selling shakes, leggings, essential oils, and all sorts of other things on social media. Perhaps next will be cryptocurrencies. In any case, I don’t agree with that. I don’t buy anything on Facebook unless I’m talking about Facebook Marketplace, and even then I don’t transact with cash. I recently tried to sell a bike seat to a neighbor, but after about an hour I realized I had been given a ride by someone who definitely wasn’t in the US.
Social media is still a wild place, so be careful there. Good luck!
lizzie
Have any questions? Email lacker@oregonian.com or tweet @lizzzyacker. Or, if you’d like to ask me a question in complete anonymity, use this Google Form.
Read more Why To? Here.
