📖 Content moderation glossary
What is a scam in comment moderation?
In short
In moderation, a scam is content designed to deceive people into handing over money, personal data or account access, for example fake giveaways, fake customer service accounts or too-good-to-be-true investment offers.
Scammers like comment sections because they borrow the credibility of the page they post on. A reply that seems to come from the brand, under the brand's own post, is far more convincing than a random email.
Example: a retailer runs a contest on Instagram. Accounts named after the retailer with a slight variation reply to participants: 'Congratulations, you won! Send us your card details to cover shipping.' Each hour these comments stay visible, more customers are exposed.
Scams harm the people tricked and the brand whose name is used, and they tend to spike around contests, sales and news events. They should be hidden fast, ideally automatically. OpenModeration hides clear violations such as scam comments automatically on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, WordPress and websites.