Keep an eye out for Facebook posts claiming that you can win an all-expenses-paid family holiday to Lapland for Christmas just by sharing and commenting.
The posts typically feature images of the supposed Lapland holiday destination along with an entry cutoff date.
Scammers have used the false promise of a Lapland holiday in several similar scams in recent years. Images used in the scam posts are often stolen from other websites.
The goal of these fake giveaways is to promote the publishing Pages and build the number of likes that they have. By instructing people to share and comment, the scammers ensure that their bogus promotion is seen by an increasing number of Facebook users.
Once the fake Facebook Page has become more popular, it can launch survey scams or other types of fraudulent activity, this time to a much larger pool of potential victims.
Alternatively, the now popular page can be sold on the black market to other scammers.
Facebook scammers always become more active as Christmas approaches. Be wary of any Page or post that promises expensive holidays, free cruises, free air travel, or other valuable prizes just for sharing and commenting and, in some cases, clicking a link to claim your “prize”.
Don’t help the scammers succeed by participating in their fake giveaways.
A screenshot of one 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
