Outline:
Facebook Page called ‘The New York Experience’ claims that you can win a shopping trip to New York by sharing, liking, and commenting on a prize post and then clicking a signup link to claim your entry.
Brief Analysis:
The Facebook Page and the posts that it generates are fraudulent. Those who participate have no chance whatsoever of winning the promised prize. In fact, the prize does not exist. The Page is a typical survey scam designed to trick people into divulging their personal information on suspect third-party survey websites.
Detailed Analysis:
This Facebook Page, which calls itself “The New York Experience”, is supposedly offering Facebook users the chance to win a shopping trip to New York for Christmas. And, claims the Page, all you need to do to win is like, share, and comment on a prize post and then click a “signup” link.
However, the Facebook Page is fraudulent and no amount of liking, sharing, or clicking will give you even the slightest chance of winning the promised prize. In fact, there IS no prize and certainly no winners other than the scammers who created the bogus competition.
The Page is a scam designed to generate revenue for its unscrupulous owners by tricking people into submitting their personal details on dodgy third-party ‘survey’ websites.
By stipulating that participants must share the bogus prize post to enter, the scammers ensure that their Page and its fraudulent material is seen by a rapidly increasing pool of potential victims. And, by getting people to like the Page as well, the scammers can substantially increase the reach of their fake posts.
If you click the link in the hope of securing your prize entry, you will first be taken to a page that asks what part of the world you live in. Your answer determines which dodgy website you will be redirected to.
The site you eventually arrive at will offer the chance to win further prizes in exchange for filling in a survey and supplying your name and contact details. However, fine print on the site will stipulate that, by participating, you are giving permission for the site’s owners to share your personal information with site sponsors and online marketing firms.
Thus, soon after participating, you will begin receiving unwanted and annoying marketing messages for various products and services via phone, text message, email, and surface mail. The scammers who created the fake New York prize giveaway will earn commissions each time somebody provides his or her information on one of the survey sites.
And, to reiterate, the promised New York shopping trip prize does not exist, so participating is a waste of time.
Such scams are extremely common on Facebook. Don’t be tempted to participate in these bogus competitions ‘just in case’ they are legitimate. They are NOT harmless. By participating, you are aiding and abetting grubby little scammers who have no place on Facebook or any other social network. And, by liking, sharing, and commenting on such fraudulent material, you are exposing all of your friends to the scam as well. Just don’t do it!
Last updated: April 13, 2017
First published: July 11, 2016
By Brett M. Christensen
About Hoax-Slayer
References
What is a Facebook Survey Scam?
Survey Scam List
The Case Against ‘Just in Case’