Supposedly, Facebook users can get the chance to win a Mercedes Benz for Christmas 2017 just by liking a post, sharing the promotion, and adding a comment specifying what colour car they would like if they win.
The prize post, which features an image depicting people posing beside a car at a Mercedes dealership, claims that 2 lucky winners will be announced on December 1st.
But, alas, the post is just another Facebook like-farming scam. People who participate have no chance whatsoever of winning a Mercedes or any other prize. There are no prizes and no winners.
The image used in the scam post is stolen from a 2016 news report.
The scammers created the fake giveaway post as a means of promoting their fraudulent Facebook page and accumulating large numbers of Page likes. After such a promotion, their Page will have a considerably larger potential audience. They will use this extended reach to launch survey scams or other types of fraudulent activity.
Fake giveaways offering luxury vehicles and other valuable prizes are very common on Facebook. In fact, there have been dozens of posts in recent years that have falsely promised to be giving away Mercedes Benz cars.
Don’t help these scammers by participating in their fake giveaways.
An example of the scam post:
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
