More iPhone Giveaway Scams Hitting Facebook
The original site is no longer online; links go to the Internet Archive copy.
The claim
Various Facebook Pages promise the chance to win Apple iPhones just for liking, sharing, and commenting.
We are giving Only 100 iPhone on Jan 1 / 2017
100 Lucky Winners Will Be Messaged via fb On Jan 17.
Step 1) Like this post.
Step 2) Comment which color you want.
Step 3) Share On Your wall.
Good Luck to everyone
What the fact-checkers found
The Facebook Pages are fraudulent and are not associated with Apple in any way. No iPhones are being given away. The fake giveaway messages are designed to gather large numbers of likes. Once a Facebook Page has substantially increased its like-count, it can then be redeployed to perpetrate further scams, this time to a much larger audience. Or, it can be sold on the black market to other scammers.
Several Facebook Pages that are currently being promoted on the network claim that you can win an Apple iPhone just by liking, sharing, and commenting. They claim to be official Apple or iPhone Pages and feature posts with prize details and iPhone images. Some versions even have videos depicting iPhone ‘unboxings’ or other related content. For a chance to win, you are instructed to like the post or Page, share the post, and then add a comment specifying which colour phone you would like.
However, the Facebook Pages are fraudulent. Despite their names and appearance, there are in no way associated with Apple. And they are certainly not giving away any iPhones. The Pages are scams designed to accumulate large numbers of likes as quickly as possible. The images and videos used in the scam post have been stolen from other sources.
By tricking people into liking, sharing, and commenting, the scammers know that their fake prize posts will reach an ever increasing number of people on Facebook. Those who participate effectively become spammers for the fraudsters who create the fake iPhone Pages.
Once a Page has harvested a great many new likes via this ruse, it can then be reused to launch survey scams or other types of fraudulent activity, this time to a considerably larger pool of potential victims. Or, the Facebook Page can be sold on the black market to other scammers who will use it for their own spam and scam campaigns.
Scams like this are very common. Be wary of any Facebook Page or post that promises valuable prizes just for liking, sharing, and commenting.
The following Hoax-Slayer YouTube video explains more about like-farming:
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