Are You Getting Caught by Click Bait?

It
all
feels
so
harmless.
Who
isn’t
even
alittle
curious
which
celebrity
is
their
look-a-like
or
what
’80s
song
best
matches
their
personality?
While
some
of
these
fun
little
quizzes
and
facial
recognition-type
games
that
pop
up
on
social
media
are
advertiser-generated
and
harmless,
others
have
been
carefully
designed
to
steal
your
data.

According
to
the Better
Business
Bureau (BBB)
consumers
need
to
beware
with the
IQ
tests,
quizzes
that
require
you
to
trade
information.
Depending
on
the
goal
of
the
scam,
one
click
could
result
in
a
new
slew
of
email
or
text
spam,
malicious
data
mining,
or
even
a
monthly
charge
on
your
phone
bill.

Besides
the
spammy
quizzes,
scammers
also
use
click
bait,
that
are
headlines
designed
to
get
your
click
and
your
data.
Such
headlines
often
promise
juicy
info
on
celebrities
and
may
even
legitimate
human
interest
stories
that
claim,
“and
you
won’t
believe
what
happened
next.”
While
some
of
those
headlines
are
authored
by
reputable
companies
simply
trying
to
sell
products
and
compete
for
clicks,
others
are
data
traps
that
chip
away
at
your
privacy.

The
best
defense
against
click
bait
is
knowledge.
Similar
to
the
plague
of
fake
news
circulating
online,
click
bait
is
getting
more
sophisticated
and
deceptive
in
appearance,
which
means
that
users
must
be
even
more
sophisticated
in
understanding
how
to
sidestep
these
digital
traps.

5
Tips
to
Help
You
Tame
Your
Clicks

1. 
   Just
   say
   no,
   help
   others
   do
   the
   same.
   Scammers
   understand
   human
   digital
   behavior
   and
   design
   quizzes
   they
   know
   will
   get
   a
   lot
   of
   shares.
   “Fun”
   and
   “wow!”
   easily
   goes
   viral.
   Refuse
   to
   pass
   on
   the
   information
   and
   when
   you
   see
   it,
   call
   it
   out
   like
   
   blogger
   David
   Neilsen
   did
   (right).
   A
   scammers goal
   is
   access
   to
   your
   data
   and
   access
   to
   your social
   pages,
   which
   gives
   them
   access
   to
   your
   
   friend’s
   data.
   If
   you
   want
   to
   find
   out
   which
   Harry
   Potter
   character
   you are
   most
   like,
   just
   know
   you
   will
   pay
   with
   your
   privacy
   —
   so
   just
   practice
   saying
   no.
2. 
   Vet
   your
   friends.
   Gone
   are
   the
   days
   of
   hundreds
   of
   thousands
   of
   “friends
   and
   followers”
   to
   affirm
   our
   social
   worth.
   With
   every
   unknown
   friend
   you
   let
   into
   your
   digital
   circle,
   you
   increase
   your
   chances
   of
   losing
   more
   privacy.
   Why
   take
   the
   risk?
   Also,
   take
   a
   closer
   look
   at
   who
   is
   sharing
   a
   contest,
   quiz,
   or
   game.
   A
   known
   friend
   may
   have
   been
   hacked.
   Go
   through
   their
   feed
   to
   see
   if
   there’s
   anything
   askew
   with
   the
   account.
3. 
   Beware
   of
   click
   jacking.
   This
   malicious
   technique tricks
   a
   web
   user into
   clicking
   on
   something
   different
   from
   what
   the
   user
   perceives
   they
   are
   clicking
   on,
   which
   could
   result
   in
   revealing confidential information
   or
   a
   scammer
   taking
   control
   of
   their
   computer.
4. 
   Be
   aware
   of
   ‘Like
   Farming’
   scams.
   Quizzes
   can
   be
   part
   of
   a
   scam
   called
   “Like
   Farming.”
   In
   this
   scenario,
   scammers
   create
   a
   piece
   of
   legitimate
   content,
   then
   swap
   it
   out
   for
   something
   else
   less
   desirable
   once
   the
   post
   has
   gone
   viral.
5. 
   Adjust
   your
   settings.
   Since
   these
   quizzes
   mainly
   show
   up
   on
   Facebook,
   start
   adjusting
   your
   settings
   there.
   You
   will
   be
   prompted
   from
   your
   Settings
   to
   select/deselect
   the
   level
   of
   permissions
   that
   exist.
   This
   is
   one
   easy
   way
   to
   stop
   the
   madness.
   Another
   way
   is
   to
   go
   to
   the
   actual
   post/quiz
   and
   click
   on
   the
   downward
   facing
   arrow
   to
   the
   top
   right
   of
   the
   post.
   Tell
   Facebook
   to
   block
   these
   types
   of
   ads
   or
   posts,
   or
   if
   you
   are
   sure
   it’s
   a
   scam,
   report
   the
   post.
6. 
   Value
   your
   online
   time.
   Click
   bait
   is
   an
   epic
   waste
   of
   time.
   When
   a
   headline
   or
   quiz
   teases
   users
   to
   click
   without
   giving
   much
   information
   about
   will
   follow,
   those
   posts
   get
   a
   lot
   more
   clicks,
   which
   moves
   them
   up
   the
   Facebook
   food
   chain.
   Keep
   in
   mind
   click
   bait
   is
   a
   trap
   that
   A)
   tricks
   you
   B)
   wastes
   valuable
   time
   and
   C)
   edges
   out
   content
   from
   your
   friends
   and
   Facebook
   pages
   that
   you
   actually
   want
   to
   see.

Our
digital
landscape
is
peppered
with
fake
news
and
click
bait,
which
makes
it
difficult
to
build
trust
with
individuals
and
brands
who
have
legitimate
messages
and
products
to
share.
As
you
become
savvy
to
the
kinds
of
data
scams,
your
discernment
and
ability
to
hold
onto
your
clicks
will
become
second
nature.
Continue
to
have
fun,
learn,
connect,
but
guard
your
heart
with
every
click.
Be
sure
to

keep
yor
devices
protected
while
you
do!

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About Author

AndyC

Andy Curtis is an award-winning security consultant, researcher and public speaker. He has been working in the computer security industry since the early 1990s, having been employed by state and federal government, leading healthcare and banking providers across three continents. He has given talks about computer security for some of the world’s largest companies, worked with law enforcement agencies on investigations into hacking groups, and is a regular voice on TV and radio explaining IT security threats.

See author's posts