*Better Business Bureau advises consumers to apply 5 simple rules to keep themselves protected from scammers

Isola Moses | 绿帽献妻

Once again, con artists are apparently on the prowl and trying to find a hole in Facebook and Google鈥檚 new advert policies.

绿帽献妻 gathered the Better Business Bureau (BBB) reports that there has been an uptick in fake e-mail messages sent to business owners in an attempt to gain access to restricted information.

There are several red flags that people should look out for. Most are your standard issue warnings, but scammers are always looking for new ways to trip people up, according to report.

It鈥檚 important you have everything covered and stay vigilant about any new angle scammers are trying to work.

Here鈥檚 how the scam plays out:

The scam starts out by you receiving an authentic-looking e-mail that appears to come from Facebook or Google with the proper logos and professional-sounding language you鈥檇 expect from either tech company.

The next thing to look for is verbiage telling you that your ad account hasn鈥檛 been following the rules and that it鈥檚 either been deactivated or is about to be deactivated. If you don鈥檛 have an ad account with either Facebook or Google (or any other platform), then you should stop right there.

The next trigger point is the most important one. The email says that if you want to find out more about the situation and reactivate your account, all you have to do is click on a link.

Stop right there and don鈥檛 click on anything. The BBB says that no matter how convincing that email seems, don鈥檛 click the link!

If you do, then malware could be downloaded onto your computer and access your personal information.

The BBB reports that the link in the email leads to a fake login page in some cases.

In that scenario, if you enter your login ID and password, scammers will have gained access to your account.

Keep your guard up on all e-mail:聽 Scammers are getting smarter and sharpening all their digital skills — better design, better grammar, correct spelling, etc. The BBB lays out five very simple rules everyone should use when opening any email:

Verify your account. 鈥淰erify the status of your account before you act. Even if an email looks convincing, visit the official website and try logging into your account before you click on any link in an e-mail or reply with your personal information,鈥� cautions the BBB.

鈥淚f your 鈥榙eactivated鈥� account is still up and running, the email is a scam.鈥�

Never click on links in unsolicited e-mails. Like we said, hoaxers make links and web pages that appear to be real, but even an official looking webpage could be lying in wait to infect your computer with malware. The bottom line is that you should never click on links in unsolicited messages.

Watch out for shortened links. A new angle scammers are playing is trying to get potential victims to click on shortened links, such as Bit.ly, Ow.ly, or Goo.gl.

The problem is that it鈥檚 impossible to know where this kind of link will lead because of the masquerade that using a 鈥淯RL shortener鈥� can perform.

It is recalled that Google, a couple of years back, saw the problems its URL shortener Goo.gl could cause and put tripwires in place to stop anonymous and first-time users from creating new short links via the goo.gl console.

But there might still be phishers who had access to Google鈥檚 URL shortener before the new rules were put in place, and they might still try to work that ploy.

Consumers are advised to take advantage of Facebook security features. Facebook has security features that allow users to see if security related messages they鈥檝e received are legitimate or fake.

Facebook asks users to report any fake messages they come across.

Don鈥檛 be hasty because of an 鈥渦rgent鈥� message. Scammers love urgent messages like the 鈥淗ey, grandma, I鈥檓 in jail鈥� or 鈥淚鈥檓 in a foreign country and lost my wallet鈥� trick — anything the scammer can spin to make their victim think it鈥檚 a serious situation that requires immediate action.

The Bureau stated: 鈥淓ven if a message claims your account is about to be deactivated or your password is being reset, don鈥檛 panic. If it seems unlikely, use caution and verify the claims before you act.鈥�