Scammers on Facebook attempted to pose as the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation (SWF) and invited people to “friend” the new page, but SWF staff’s quick action helped shut down the deception.
SWF spokeswoman Chelsea Walters — the organization’s Facebook page administrator — explained that she became aware of the fraud attempt on March 27 after several followers informed her that they were receiving friend requests from a page calling itself “Saskathewan-wildlife.”
“I said, ‘That’s not us,’ and then my husband sent us a link and (I) looked at this person’s profile. It looks like somebody’s profile might have been hacked,” said Walters.
The fake profile used SWF’s picture and name, while it also shared content that the charity had previously uploaded. The scam also included the chance to win a crossbow if people accepted the friend request.
Walters told everyone who had received a friend request from the fake SWF account to decline the request and report the profile to Facebook. Within about 30 minutes, the social media company had shut down the fraudulent account.
This type of thing has not happened before to the SWF, Walter said. However, she is the administrator of several other Facebook pages and knows that scams have hit others during the past year, especially since more people have moved their activities online. Particularly vulnerable groups run regular contests and ask followers to submit material — such as pictures — to be included in magazines or other literature.
This scam did concern Walters when she first learned about it.
“I was freaking out a little bit because it’s my responsibility and it was Saturday morning and there was no one to really check in on,” she said. “But the good thing about it is, it’s a person and not a business page, so it was actually built on a person’s account, which is a first red flag you might notice.
“If somebody’s business offers you friendship, in the Facebook world, a business is a page. It can’t be a person.”
Walters recommended that if people receive a “friend request” from a business page on Facebook, they should decline the request and report it.
Upcoming activities
The Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation has several activities planned for this summer, but many events will depend upon pandemic restrictions. Some activities in limbo include a yearly spawn camp at Buffalo Pound Lake and a kids’ camp.
Activities that are online and going ahead are a backyard biodiversity program, various classroom in a box programs, and worksheets in libraries.
“We’re trying to respond with things as they come. So we’ll see how it goes,” Walters added. “The quicker things open up, the quicker we’ll be able to go back to some of our regular programming.”
Visit the SWF’s Facebook page or website at https://swf.sk.ca/ for more information.
