Chances are, if you’ve spent more than five minutes on Facebook in the last couple of days, you’ve run into a new hoax making the rounds on the social media site. It looks a little something like this:
Now it’s official! It has been published in the media. Facebook has just released the entry price: $5.99 to keep the subscription of your status to be set to “private”. If you paste this message on your page, it will be offered free (paste not share) if not tomorrow, all your posts can become public. Even the messages that have been deleted or the photos not allowed. After all, it does not cost anything for a simple copy and paste.
Here’s the thing: It’s a hoax. Facebook is not going to charge you $5.99 to keep your profile private. Don’t believe me? Well, this is Facebook’s official reply – from its Facebook page:
While there may be water on Mars, don’t believe everything you read on the internet today. Facebook is free and it always will be. And the thing about copying and pasting a legal notice is just a hoax. Stay safe out there Earthlings!
This is just the latest hoax to make the rounds on Facebook. Similar versions of this hoax have been shared on Facebook since 2012. For example, in 2014 a copyright protection notice hoax had people in a tizzy.
The lesson here is to pause for a moment and think before you copy and paste a “notice” on your Facebook page. If you’re concerned, do a little homework to get the real story. In the longer run, you’ll save yourself (and all your friends scrolling through the Facebook newsfeed) some time.
Have you seen the “legal notice” post on Facebook? Share your comments below or on our Facebook page.
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