Issue 144 - December 2012 (1st Edition) - Page 9

Bogus Prize Offers on Facebook - 'Like and Share To Win

Outline
Various messages distributed on Facebook claim that users can win expensive prizes such as Apple products or designer headphones just by liking and sharing a Facebook Page

Analysis
A great many of these supposed prize offers are totally bogus. The "promotions" are created primarily to artificially inflate the number of "likes" gained by the offending Facebook Page and to promote the page further by way of shared posts and images. Those who participate will never receive the promised prize. In some cases, the perpetrators of these fake promotions may also try to trick people into divulging their personal information.

Of course, some companies and organizations may operate legitimate Facebook driven promotions in which users receive a chance to win a prize in exchange for liking, sharing or otherwise participating. So, how can you tell if such a promotion is genuine? Here's a rundown:

Do the math!

Bogus promotions typically offer hundreds or even thousands of expensive prizes. If real, such promotions would cost very significant sums of money for the promoting company. In reality, it is vastly unlikely that any organization would give away many thousands of dollars worth of products for nothing more than a few Facebook Page "Likes". Do some quick calculations. For example, suppose that the page is claiming that it will give iPads to the first 300 participants? That would work out to be well over $100,000 in value for nothing more than 300 page "Likes". I don't think so!

Genuine promotions will typically offer participants a CHANCE to win a prize. They do NOT claim that every single one of the first several hundred or several thousand participants will receive a prize. In genuine promotions, the number of prizes is likely to be limited to just a few.
Terms and Conditions?

These bogus promotions are generally very vague about what company or organization is actually offering the prizes, what the promotion is hoping to achieve, how long the promotion will run, how winners will be chosen and how they will be notified. No conditions of entry are specified. Contact details for the entity running the supposed promotion are not made available. No legal terms are outlined.

On the other hand, genuine promotions are likely to include easily accessible terms and conditions of entry, set clear limits for the duration and giveaway values of the prizes, and make it clear what entity is responsible for the promotion.
Unprofessional Presentation

The instructions for entering such bogus promotions often have very poor grammar and spelling and are written in ALL CAPS. They are not professionally presented. It is very unlikely that a company intent on promoting its products or services would publish such unprofessional and poorly presented material.

So, don't give these unscrupulous people what they want! Don't "like" their bogus Pages. Don't be tricked into spamming your friends with their fake promotions by sharing their pictures. Do not send your personal information to these people in the vain hope of winning a prize. Before entering any type of promotion or prize draw always take a closer look. If it seems suspect or dodgy, give it a miss.

Last updated: November 22, 2012
First published: November 22, 2012
Article written by Brett M. Christensen
About Brett Christensen and Hoax-Slayer

Examples

FIRST 300 SHARE WILL GET THE SAMSUNG GALAXY-When It's done send me all your informations inbox .

FIRST 300 SHARE WILL GET THE IPHONE 5-When It's done send me all your informations inbox .

FIRST 300 SHARE WILL GET THE BEATS -When It's done send me all your informations inbox .

THIS IS NOT A JOKE! I'M GIVING AWAY THOSE I-PADS I-POD IPHONES APPLES, FOR THE LUCKY 50 PEOPLE THAT "SHARE" THIS STATUS, COMMENT "DONE" ,AFTER YOU LIKED IT. GOOD LUCK I'LL PICK THE LUCKY 05 WINNERS .

We will be launching our website soon with more than 1000 products! and we are giving away free I phone 4s! All you have to do is follow these steps:

1- Like our page 2- Like the Photo
3- Share the photo on your wall and comment by writing "I love iPhone 4s"

PPLEASE NOTE : YOU MUST DO ALL STEPS OR YOUR ENTRY WILL NOT BE VALID

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