Claim
Viral social media campaigns asking users to “like,” “share,” or tag multiple friends are harmless online trends and have no connection to cybercrime or data harvesting.
Verdict: Misleading
What Was Claimed?
Many viral posts encourage users to:
- Like or share posts for a charitable cause.
- Tag multiple friends in challenges.
- Participate in chain posts or online games.
These campaigns are often presented as harmless entertainment or social initiatives.
What Did We Find?
Cybersecurity experts speaking at a First Responder Workshop organized by the CyberPeace Foundation, in collaboration with the Google Safety Engineering Centre India, highlighted how certain online trends can be misused by cybercriminals. The experts explained that scammers frequently rely on social engineering—manipulating human emotions rather than exploiting technical vulnerabilities—to deceive victims.
How Do These Scams Work?
According to cybersafety campaigner Anindita Mishra, scammers often exploit emotions such as:
- Urgency
- Fear
- Tempathy
- Authority
- Shame
- Peer pressure
These psychological tactics encourage users to interact with malicious content before verifying its authenticity.
What Is Data Harvesting?
Experts warned that some social media campaigns asking users to repeatedly like, comment, or tag friends may serve another purpose: identifying active social media accounts.
Such information can help cybercriminals:
- Identify genuine user profiles.
- Separate active users from inactive accounts.
- Build databases for phishing attacks.
- Target individuals with personalized scams.
While liking a single post does not automatically expose sensitive information, repeated participation in suspicious campaigns can provide valuable behavioral data to scammers.
Why Did Experts Mention the ‘Saree Challenge’?
During the workshop, experts cited the viral Saree Challenge as an example of how large-scale tagging trends can unintentionally expose user networks. When participants tagged numerous friends, those tagged often continued the chain, rapidly creating extensive public relationship maps. According to experts, such publicly available information can sometimes assist criminals in identifying:
- Personal connections
- Real identities
- Social circles
- Public profile information
However, experts did not claim that every viral challenge is a scam. Instead, they advised users to exercise caution before participating.
Should You Tag Friends Without Permission?
Cybersecurity experts recommend avoiding tagging individuals without their consent. Public tagging can expose personal information and make it easier for malicious actors to map relationships between users. Privacy-conscious social media practices can reduce unnecessary exposure online.
Why Digital Media Literacy Matters
Experts stressed that improving digital media literacy is becoming increasingly important as cyber fraud and online scams continue to rise.
Being digitally literate includes:
- Verifying information before sharing.
- Recognizing emotional manipulation.
- Identifying phishing attempts.
- Protecting personal information.
- Questioning suspicious online campaigns.
Conclusion
Misleading. The claim that viral social media campaigns are always harmless is misleading. Cybersecurity experts warn that while many online trends are genuine, scammers can exploit viral posts, mass-tagging campaigns, and emotional appeals to harvest user data and identify potential targets for future attacks. Practicing digital media literacy and verifying online content before participating can significantly reduce cybersecurity risks.While not every viral social media campaign is malicious, cybersecurity experts warn that scammers can exploit such trends to collect user information, identify active accounts, and build profiles for future cyberattacks. Digital media literacy remains one of the most effective defenses against these tactics.