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:
