I'm noticing a lot of suspicious accounts on Meta (like Facebook, Instagram, and Threads) that seem fake. I don't want to invade anyone's privacy or get their exact location, but I'm curious if there's a way to figure out what country they're really from. Is there a method to do this, or is it a lost cause?
3 Answers
Honestly, it's probably not worth your time. Most of these accounts are likely bots or scams, and the few real people behind them aren't going to give you honest answers anyway. If you're really curious, you could just ask, but don't expect to get a straight reply.
If you're really set on finding out where they're from, it might involve some social engineering, but I'm not sure how helpful that would be. Just telling them you've figured it out isn’t likely to intimidate them or stop their scams. You might even teach them to be sneakier in the future!
Most of these accounts are operated by bots, especially when they try to get you to click shady links. In many cases, there's a person behind the bot, but they only engage once they see you responding. You might find some entertaining videos of people messing with these scammers online, but be careful. If you poke the bear, be ready for them to spam you right back if they get angry. Trying to figure out where they are might just turn out to be useless and potentially backfire.
Yeah, I've seen those videos too! Just remember to protect your info and keep it light; these scammers can get really aggressive.
Is there any subreddit that discusses this kind of thing without breaking the rules?