We posted a link from our Facebook page last week. It shared a story on CNN about the dangers of sharing stories before you check them to see if they’re really true. It seems like every day we’re faced with these stories that tug at your heart and make you want to share the feeling with others. We’re not sure why people feel that way but we really wish that Facebook users would take a moment to check the story out before they share it.

Here’s a link to the article on CNN. We certainly don’t recommend CNN for everyday news but this story describes a real threat that you all should be aware of:

“On Facebook, clicking ‘like’ can help scammers”

We won’t post the image contained in the article but you may recognize it when you see it. Take a moment to read the article and you’ll see that the photo on the page is quite old and its use in this context was never endorsed by the girl or her parents.

When you’re faced with the need to share something that you aren’t sure is true or not, here are some resources you can use:

Snopes.com  The grand-daddy of all truth sites, Snopes debunks almost all of the urban legends that you see on the Internet or read on Facebook. If you’ve been asked to click like or share a heart-rending post on Facebook, here’s where you can check it out. How do you do that? Take a few words or a full sentence from the post and do a search on Google. Invariably you’ll have success and a link to the Snopes’ post about the story will pop up.

Sophos.com This site isn’t necessarily about Facebook stories, it’s more about virus hoaxes that you encounter there and around the Internet. Here is a description, straight from their page:

“Virus hoaxes are false reports about non-existent viruses, often claiming to do impossible things. Unfortunately some recipients occasionally believe a hoax to be a true virus warning and may take drastic action (such as shutting down their network).”

We don’t use Sophos anti-virus so don’t consider this an endorsement of their software. We use AVG and/or Microsoft Security Essentials, both of which are free.

About.com/Urban Legends On this site’s front page right now is a story about a fake Oprah Winfrey Instagram account which supposedly offers scholarships to the first 100,000 followers. Sure, it looks legitimate but you know it’s not. About.com seems to be on the cutting edge of these hoaxes so keep them in mind when checking the veracity of things that you see on Facebook and the Internet.

TIP: Please check whether a link on Facebook takes you out of the relative security of the Facebook site. We rarely click on a link, specially video links, that lead to an unknown site. Very often these places are set up specifically to steal your login information. Is it worth your identity to see some ‘funny’ video or photo? We don’t think it is.

Any time there is someone who can be tricked or a new avenue to promote such trickery, some devious person(s) will exploit the situation to the fullest, not for good but for personal gain. Be sharp. Don’t be part of the scam. If you see something that you can prove is wrong, tell the poster about it. We’d suggest that it’s your duty, in fact. If you are in doubt, ask us in a comment or on our Facebook page. Here is the link: Computers Made Simple on Facebook 

Thanks for reading!

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Initially, we thought that the new Translation app on Facebook would translate posts and comments from other languages into English. Were we wrong or what? The new Translation feature is for Facebook, not its users. Here’s where you find it on the new Facebook look:

Click on Translation and this is what you see:

However, when you click on ‘See Translation App Terms of Service’, Facebook suddenly turns it all around, making it about Facebook, not you. Here are those terms of service:

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The Translate Facebook application collects translations, comments, suggestions, ideas, feedback and other information (“Submissions”) from you and other users in connection with Facebook’s language translation project to provide access to Facebook and applications and websites that use Facebook’s platform in multiple languages (the “Project”).

You understand that your participation in the Project is for the benefit of the Facebook user community as it will allow users whose participation is currently limited by language to participate more fully. You acknowledge that your participation in the Project is entirely voluntary and you understand that no monetary or other compensation will be given to persons, including you, for Submissions. You may provide as much or as little input into the Project as you wish and can cease contributing to the Project at any time.

In consideration of Facebook permitting you to participate in the Project and the benefits to the Facebook user community of which you are a member, you acknowledge and agree that any Submissions that you provide to Facebook will be owned by Facebook. Accordingly, you irrevocably assign to Facebook all right, title and interest, including all intellectual property rights, in and to all Submissions, and Facebook is entitled to the unrestricted use and dissemination of these Submissions for any purpose, commercial or otherwise, without acknowledgment, consent or monetary, or other tangible compensation, to you. To the extent that the foregoing assignment is or becomes invalid or unenforceable to any degree or for any reason, you grant Facebook an irrevocable, perpetual, exclusive, fully-paid-up, royalty-free, worldwide right and licence, with the right to sublicense, use, reproduce, display, perform, create derivative works of, distribute and otherwise exploit the Submissions in any manner.

Please note: Translate Facebook is subject to and governed by these Additional Terms Applicable to Translate Facebook (the “Additional Terms”) as well as the Facebook Terms of Use. In the event of any conflict between these Additional Terms and the Facebook Terms of Use, these Additional Terms control. Capitalised terms that are not defined in these Additional Terms will have the definitions provided them in the Terms of Use. Facebook reserves the right, in our sole discretion, to change, modify, add or delete portions of these Additional Terms at any time without further notice. If we do this, we will post the changes to these Additional Terms on this page and will indicate at the top of this page the date these terms were last revised. You agree to waive any specific notice of such changes and your continued use and operation of Translate Facebook after any such changes constitutes your acceptance of the new Additional Terms. It is your responsibility to regularly check the Site to determine if there have been changes to these Additional Terms.

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In case you missed it, here’s the sinister part:  you grant Facebook an irrevocable, perpetual, exclusive, fully-paid-up, royalty-free, worldwide right and licence, with the right to sublicense, use, reproduce, display, perform, create derivative works of, distribute and otherwise exploit the Submissions in any manner.

Facebook tells you that the project ‘is for the benefit of the Facebook user community’. Not really. It’s for Facebook. Translating their menus and static pages will allow more users to access the site thus allowing Facebook to pump ads to more people than they can now. Instead of paying translators to do the work, Facebook is reaching out to its users in an attempt to save money to make more money. Our advice? Don’t help. Let the corporate giant that is Facebook spread some money out, paying hard working translators to do the job, not ask for freebies from its users.

Thanks for reading!