Dozens of fraudulent Facebook Pages that falsely claim to be associated with popular TV show host Ellen DeGeneres are currently being published and promoted on the network.
Posts on the bogus Facebook Pages claim that Ellen is giving away large cash prizes, cars, and even houses to her fans.
As soon as one of the fake Ellen Pages are removed, others pop up to replace it.
Some versions instruct participants to simply like, share and comment to get a chance to win. Others also demand that users click a link to complete their prize entry.
The fake Pages use graphics and photographs stolen from Ellen’s genuine Facebook Page and other sources. Many of the fake Pages have names that are misspelled versions of the name “Ellen DeGeneres”.
Despite the misspelled names and the obvious absurdity of the giveaway claims, many people still participate, apparently in the vain hope of actually winning something.
But, alas, participants have zero chance of winning anything at all.. There are no prizes and these Facebook Pages have no connection to Ellen whatsoever.
By insisting that users like, share, and comment as a prerequisite for entering the prize draws, the scammers are able to fool people into promoting the fake Ellen giveaways across Facebook. This ensures that the scammers gain many new Page likes and potential victims.
And, if you click the links in these scam posts, you will be taken to a decidedly dodgy website that claims that you can watch thousands of movies for free. But, the supposedly free video streaming site insists that you provide your credit card details, ostensibly as a means of validating your account. Any company that allows scam Facebook Pages to be used to promote its services should not be trusted with your credit card details or any other personal information.
These celebrity giveaway scams have become increasingly common in recent months and have targeted fans of several high-profile celebrities, including Oprah Winfrey, Tyler Perry, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson. Will Smith, and others.
Be wary of any Page or post that claims to belong to a high-profile entertainer and offers you the chance to win large amounts of cash or expensive prizes just for liking and sharing or clicking links. While such celebrities may indeed be wealthy – and perhaps even generous – they are very unlikely to randomly hand cash or expensive prizes to strangers via a social media Page. Any such claims should be treated as highly suspect.
Screenshot of just two of the scam posts:
Check for the “Verified” Icon:
Note that the official Facebook Pages of most popular entertainers, including that of Ellen DeGeneres, will feature Facebook’s blue ‘verified’ tick beside the Page name to prove their authenticity:
Transcript of a recent Ellen scam post:
👉𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘶𝘥👈 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺, .. 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘰 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦. 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘦𝘯𝘥. 𝘪 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘮𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 * 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘴 * 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘧𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴, 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘩, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘪𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘴 & 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 “𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘸” 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴, 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 !!! 𝘪 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘦 200 𝘭𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘺 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦. $20,000,- 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴. 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘱 1 – 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘱 2 – 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 10 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘱 3- 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 “𝘉𝘐𝘎 𝘔𝘖𝘕𝘌𝘠”
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
