33: Don't Fall for Fake Messages

Summary

In this episode, Stacy Covitz discusses the challenges of running Facebook ads, particularly the influx of spam and phishing attempts that often accompany the process. 

She emphasizes the importance of recognizing fake messages, avoiding clicking on suspicious links, and verifying any communications through the official Ads Manager. 

Covitz shares cautionary tales to illustrate the potential dangers and reassures listeners that these experiences are common, even among seasoned advertisers.

Takeaways

• The moment you start running ads on Meta, spam will increase.
• Fake error messages and notifications are common in Ads Manager.
• Always verify messages by logging into your actual ad account.
• Do not click on suspicious links in emails or messages.
• Phishing attempts can look legitimate; always be cautious.
• It's important to recognize the signs of fake communications.
• Even experienced users can panic when receiving spam messages.
• Reporting fake messages helps protect the community.
• Legitimate messages from Meta should also be verified through the account.
• Staying informed is the best protection against scams.

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Transcript

Stacy Covitz (00:03.31)
Holy cow! You just started running ads and you start getting messages. Your account is being shut down. Attention now! Stay tuned. You're gonna want to hear this because this is what happens when you start running Facebook ads.

If you've ever got a message, either a DM, an email, a pop-up, a text that is threatening that your Facebook business page or ads manager is getting shut down, this episode is for you.

Stacy Covitz (01:02.239)
Okay.

This... here's something people just don't talk about enough. The moment you start running ads on meta, you're also going to get hit with spam. Ug.

you're going to get, and not everybody, but you'll get emails, DMs, text messages. Some are harmless, but others can actually trick you, and they actually have a purpose, into losing everything. So I am going to break down what's real, what's fake, and how to protect yourself.

Alright, let's talk about the kinds of spam you're going to get. In Ads Manager, you will get fake error messages, notifications, things that look urgent, pop-ups, but they don't match Meta's usual format. You'll get a few, not a ton, I don't get, I'm judging off of myself and my clients.

emails. You will get emails. Now here's the interesting thing. When you open up your Facebook ad account, it's usually your personal page or your personal account that is the email. So if you get a message that's a different email, that's a pretty good sign it's not real. So be careful about that. DMs. Now this one is what I am getting flooded with. This is coming from my

Stacy Covitz (02:45.078)
my business page and I get one to two daily. One to two daily. That is just ridiculous. They're random. A lot of them have the same subject line and they want me to click. They want me to click. I'm going to I'm going to read an example of one just so you know.

Stacy Covitz (03:47.041)
Okay, same subject line, multiple days in a row, more than one per day. To continue using your page, it may be suspended within 24 hours. We made this decision after careful consideration and accordance with our intellectual property policy.

Now the crazy thing about these is you have to kind of be living under a rock to not know that this is fake. What I mean by that is not to be insulting but to point out some of the few things about this message. It is in all caps but some letters are bigger than others so it's a completely

not cohesive text. It's got the link for me to click that looks like it's a very, long link. And let's see what else. Oh, it's got a fake copyright and a little warning sign. Now.

same exact message coming multiple days in a row from some people have a picture, some people don't, some people have a name, some people don't, but it's almost like a copy and paste message. Now that is clearly fake and like I said not to be insulting but it's so obvious. Okay now an email that you might get

is a phishing email. It might say something like, attention, your payment has failed. And that could be legitimate. I have gotten those before from a client who just had changed credit cards or something like that. You will get those. Those are legitimate, but you'll also get fake ones.

Stacy Covitz (05:56.907)
you could get, another one you could get, is some texts. I get some texts as well to my phone number and again not in my contacts. I don't recognize the number. There's no picture. I'm not going to click on anything. Now here's what my advice is. Under no circumstances

should you ever, ever click one of these links.

Most of you I know already would imagine or assume this, but it's tempting because if you get a message like that, especially if you have a new account, you get a message like that. Your first instinct is to go, my goodness, what did I do wrong? And because you're not a hundred percent sure of your ability or you're not confident that you understand the platform yet. Even I who've been on the platform for five plus years panic.

every time I get one of these. So you're not alone there, but do not click it. What you can do instead is go to your ad account from a computer.

Go to your ad account from a computer, sign on, preferably maybe even with a incognito link. I'm being like extra paranoid now, but with a new link and have a look. If you don't have any messages in your actual ad account, then it's fake and go ahead and report it, but don't ever click on it. Now I'm going to tell you a little cautionary tale.

I did have a client who one time did click on that and the story just gets worse. In order to verify that she was legitimate, they had her wanting to send in ID and she actually made a copy of her license both sides and submitted it and it could have gotten worse and worse and worse. And we talked about it and I

said stop stop and looked into it and it was fake and I I don't think anything came of that but I also have a client and I've heard a story I've also heard a story about

a business who, and I don't know if this was a result of clicking or being hacked or what, but their ad account was hacked or they clicked something and somebody out there was spending thousands and thousands, it might have even been a hundred thousand dollars on ads. Not for their account, but for this thief, the thief, thief account.

So that's my cautionary tale. Don't panic. Don't click. Go log on in your real account and see what's up. Now here's some exceptions because you do you do need to know that Metta will occasionally send you legitimate emails and or messages. Again, same advice. Log into your account. Don't click. Log into your account.

and have the conversation in your ads manager.

Stacy Covitz (09:42.648)
So to wrap up, expect that you're going to get these messages and don't panic, it's going to come. Don't click, always verify inside your own account and just always be aware that's the best protection. And if this feels overwhelming, just remember it happens to everyone, even the pros.

and the key is knowing what's real and what's not.

I hope this was helpful. appreciate you and I look forward to having you here on the next episode. If you found this helpful and you think someone you know in business would get value out of this.

If you found this helpful, I would love it if you shared it with one of your business friends or liked it, reviewed it. All of that helps me grow this podcast so I can keep being here and sharing this information with you. And I appreciate you and I will see you next time.