According to this Facebook post, Australian airline Qantas is giving away free flights in exchange for commenting and sharing.
Supposedly, the giveaway is to thank loyal customers for their support as COVID-19 restrictions ease and flights resume. The post promises that 500 people who share and comment on the post by a specified date and time will get a free round trip flight to their desired destination.
The post, which was published via a Facebook Page named “Qantas Air” features several photos of a Qantas aircraft.
Despite its appearance, however, the post has no connection to Qantas and those who participate have no chance whatsoever of winning any free flights.
In fact, the post is a typical giveaway scam designed to promote a bogus Facebook Page. After the supposed entry deadline on the scam post has passed, new versions of the scam with new dates will likely appear.
Facebook scammers create these bogus giveaways as a means of increasing the like-numbers and potential reach of their fraudulent Pages.
Once the scam Pages have become a lot more popular via such fake giveaways, they can be used to launch further scams that, this time, can reach a much larger audience. Or, in some cases, the scam Facebook Page may be sold to other scammers who will repurpose it for their schemes.
Be wary of any post that claims that you can win valuable prizes such as flights, holidays, or cars just by liking, sharing, and commenting. Currently, many such scams are attempting to capitalize on the COVID-19 pandemic.
Note that the genuine Qantas Facebook page is called “Qantas” not “Qantas Air” and features Facebook’s blue “verified” icon to prove it is the real thing.
A screenshot 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
