If you’ve been on Facebook for any length of time, you may well have come across a post that claims that you can win a tiny house just by liking, sharing, and commenting.
The posts feature images of the tiny house supposedly being given away along with instructions for participating.
Here’s a screenshot of a typical tiny house giveaway post
Tiny or not, these little dwellings are still worth sizable chunks of cash and no company is going to randomly give them away in exchange for a few Facebook likes and shares.
The scammers capitalize on the increasing popularity of the tiny house movement. The photographs used in the scam posts are stolen from tiny-house enthusiast websites or from promotional material published by tiny house manufacturers.
As with other like-farming scams, the fake tiny house giveaways are designed to promote a particular Facebook Page to a wider audience and gather many new Page Likes.
Sometimes, after the bogus Facebook page has significantly increased its potential reach by tricking people into liking, sharing, and commenting, the scammers will use the now popular Page to launch survey scams or other types of fraudulent activity.
Alternatively, after using a fake giveaway to increase likes, the scammers may sell the Facebook Page to other scammers. Facebook scammers seemingly love giving away imaginary tiny houses. In recent years, there have been dozens of versions of these giveaway scams on Facebook, all featuring stolen images of tiny houses in various parts of the world.
Some versions instruct victims to click a link to register or complete surveys as part of their entry. But, they will be asked to submit their name and contact information as part of the process and this information will be shared with third-party marketers. So, people who participate will soon be inundated with unwanted phone calls, text messages, emails, and letters promoting a range of dubious products and services.
Facebook scammers continually create posts and Pages that promise that you can win not only tiny houses, but all kinds of valuable prizes including store vouchers, holidays, airline tickets, luxury RVs, high-end vehicles, computers, smartphones, shopping sprees, and many other things.
Of course, there are legitimate giveaways on Facebook as well. Many businesses run promotions or competitions that allow people to win various prizes. But, they are very unlikely to give away expensive items such as cars, houses, or holidays just for likes and shares.
This related Hoax-Slayer report provides more information about how to tell the difference between genuine and fake giveaways on Facebook.
How to Recognize Facebook Prize and Giveaway Scams
Another example of a tiny-house giveaway 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
