Last updated on July 5th, 2024 at 12:57 pm
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Last updated on July 5th, 2024 at 12:57 pm
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I’ve been seeing a lot of spam and scam posts via Facebook groups lately. Well since I’m nosy i tend to look up the pages people share to see what they are about. I’ve noticed one page popping up a few times in a few Facebook groups.
I like everyone else like giveaways but I think too many people fall prey to scams or fake pages all together. There are some key things to keep in mind when it comes to viewing Facebook pages that are devoted to giveaways.
The Anatomy of a scam page
Most people get excited about the item being given away. I get that but no matter what the product is be it a smartphone or a camera or what have you. Remember these key factors.
Granted some pages do giveaway the latest tech or a prize pack from a large brand. I’m not talking about those. I’m talking about pages that are lesser know or even try to pass themselves off as a big brand.
I’ll give you a good example. The page I kept seeing pop up in Facebook groups is named
Samsungs xchange (Can you find the errors?)
You can see the brand name i has an S added at the end and the spelling of exchange is missing the E. Granted that may just be the way the brand wants it. Yet I found other things that were wrong as well.
Why is a tech giveaway page labeled finance?
This is another dead giveaway of a fake giveaway page. If they are only doing giveaways they should be able to state it’s a giveaway page or group. Not a financial page.
Another thing I noticed is that the scam pages are bare-bones in terms of info. This Samsungs Xchange page only lists that they are a Finance page and what looks to be a Facebook Messenger contact number.
Tasks to complete before you can “win” your phone or prize
I’ve noticed this before as well. The post has been removed from Samsungs Xchange page but they had you state the color of the phone you wanted along with sharing the post to 10 Facebook groups. Following that you’d message them and you were an automatic winner.
Other giveaway pages may make you do other tasks such as share the post with a set number of friends or spell out the brand names in comments.
I found another Samsung Giveaway page that had this exact task.
Look for typos
The Samsungs Xchange page giveaway offer had a number of typos. They replaced the O with 0’s so that should alert you to not enter. Other types may be misspelling common words or as i stated before using numbers in place of letters.
Auto replies to comments about it being a scam
These Facebook pages often use Messenger and auto-replies. I replied to someone stating that the page and giveaway were a scam. Sure enough, a few seconds later I had an automated reply from the Samsungs Xchange page.
The message stated the following:
Hello Vanessa welcome ! Congratulations you have successfully won Our Samsung give away from SAMSUNG STORE , the last step now is to go and SHARE our giveaway post to 10 facebook groups, after that send your address number and your phone will be send to your submitted address NOTE: you cannot cheat us, if you dont share, you will not be paid…. ….
This message is funny in a way because it has the tasks again of sharing the post to 10 Facebook groups. It also reads at the bottom if you don’t share you won’t be paid. Paid? don’t they mean you won’t win a prize?
Again I didn’t enter I just replied to another person who commented on it being a scam suddenly I’m a winner.
How to avoid these pages
I would say just enter giveaways from the brands you know and trust. Don’t fall prey to these types of scam Facebook pages. There are so many that it’s hard to keep up but still be careful. Another thing is to report these pages too. If you see someone post it in a group let them know it’s a scam and report the page.
The Samsungs Xchange is still up but their giveaway has vanished literally overnight. I feel bad for those who fall prey to scam Facebook pages like these because they do think they will win a new phone or whatever the prize may be.
Remember to keep the key points I listed in mind next time you see a giveaway on Facebook or someone shares it with you.
Do you have any tips or tricks to avoid scam pages on social media let me know in the comments below.
