Posts from Facebook profiles and Pages that claim to be associated with popular US celebrity Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson are promising users cash and prizes in exchange for sharing posts and downloading movies.
The profiles and Pages use the star’s name and images to imply that their fraudulent posts are from The Rock himself.
The posts urge you to first share a picture and then click a link to download one of Dwayne’s latest movies. Supposedly, Dwayne will select people who share and download as winners of the pictured cash and prizes.
But, in fact, the posts have no connection to Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson whatsoever and those who are tricked into participating have no chance of winning any cash or prizes. The promised cash and prizes do not exist.
Of course, the real Dwayne ‘The Rock” Johnson Facebook Page, which includes Facebook’s blue Verified Page icon beside the name, makes no mention of such giveaways.
The posts are scams designed to trick you into visiting a decidedly dodgy video hosting website that asks for your personal and financial information. The site claims that the movie downloads are free but insists that you provide your credit card details as a means of validating your account.
Any company that allows itself to be promoted via outright scams such as bogus celebrity giveaways certainly should not be trusted with your credit card numbers or any other personal information.
In fact, this fake Dwayne Johnson giveaway is just one among a recent spate of similar Facebook scams that have used the names of several high-profile celebrities, including Tyler Perry, Janet Jackson, and Will Smith.
If one of these scam Facebook posts comes your way, do not like, share, comment or click on it.
Examples of the scam posts:
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
