According to a post that is currently appearing on Facebook, the owner of Mercedes, identified as one “Kevin M. James”, is giving away two of the luxury vehicles on May 1, 2017. And, supposedly, all you need to do for a chance to win is like the post and the Facebook Page it was published on, share, and add the comment “Done”.
But, alas, the post is just another like-farming scam. No cars are being given away and those who participate have precisely zero chance of winning anything whatsoever. And “Kevin M. James” is not the “owner of Mercedes” as claimed. In fact, the same name has been used in several other like-farming and survey scams. In earlier scams “Kevin” was listed as the manager of Ford Mustang, and the owner of Audi.
The image used in the fake post is stolen from a Mercedes-Benz fan blog and depicts a Mercedes owner named Bill with his new vehicle.
The goal of the scammers who created the fake Page and post is to accumulate as many likes as possible in the shortest possible time. Once the bogus Facebook Page has gathered a large number of new likes, it can be reused to launch further scams, this time to a much larger potential audience.
Or, the Facebook Page may be sold on the black market to other scammers.
Scams like this are very common on Facebook. This video from the Hoax-Slayer YouTube channel explains more about like-farming scams:
An example of the scam post.
My name is Kevin M.James
I am Owner of Mercedes.
We are giving 2 Mercedes On May 1st, 2017
2 Lucky Winners Will Be Announced On May 1st !!
Step 1) Like this post and Page
Step 2) Share on your wall
Step 3) Comment Done
The giveaway is open worldwide, you can enter once a day (spam accounts will be ignored). Winner will not be announced publicly – they will be private messaged – so make sure you check your DMs on the 1st!
Good Luck to everyone !
Importance Notice
After considerable thought and with an ache in my heart, I have decided that the time has come to close down the Hoax-Slayer website.These days, the site does not generate enough revenue to cover expenses, and I do not have the financial resources to sustain it going forward.
Moreover, I now work long hours in a full-time and physically taxing job, so maintaining and managing the website and publishing new material has become difficult for me.
And finally, after 18 years of writing about scams and hoaxes, I feel that it is time for me to take my fingers off the keyboard and focus on other projects and pastimes.
When I first started Hoax-Slayer, I never dreamed that I would still be working on the project all these years later or that it would become such an important part of my life. It's been a fantastic and engaging experience and one that I will always treasure.
I hope that my work over the years has helped to make the Internet a little safer and thwarted the activities of at least a few scammers and malicious pranksters.
A Big Thank You
I would also like to thank all of those wonderful people who have supported the project by sharing information from the site, contributing examples of scams and hoaxes, offering suggestions, donating funds, or helping behind the scenes.I would especially like to thank David White for his tireless contribution to the Hoax-Slayer Facebook Page over many years. David's support has been invaluable, and I can not thank him enough.
Closing Date
Hoax-Slayer will still be around for a few weeks while I wind things down. The site will go offline on May 31, 2021. While I will not be publishing any new posts, you can still access existing material on the site until the date of closure.Thank you, one and all!
Brett Christensen,
Hoax-Slayer
