Facebook posts claim Ellen DeGeneres is giving away money or prizes. Fact Check

Facebook posts claim that TV host Ellen DeGeneres is giving away large amounts of money or high value prizes to users who like, share and comment on Facebook posts.

Such posts also typically request you follow the page, while others may provide links to external websites for people to visit to stand a chance of winning.

An example can be seen below.

WANTED!!! I will be picking random people on Facebook sending them a huge amount of cash, car and house starting Saturday if your in need of funds “SHARE NOW” don’t miss out !!! We’re watching…. And I will choose 1000 lucky people. $1000,— each just follow the instructions…
Step 1 – like
Step 2 Share
Step 3 – COMMENTS “WIIN”
To get started now, Share, fast fast !!!

Our regular readers will of course know that these are like-farming scams. Like-farming scams use deception or exploitation to trick Facebook users into following Facebook pages and liking and sharing Facebook posts.

There are many different variants of like-farming, but those that set up fake giveaways while posing as well-known celebrities are perhaps one of the most prolific types. Scammers set up fake celebrity pages and profiles, and publish posts claiming that sharing and liking them will stand a Facebook user a chance of winning high value prizes or cash.

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However it is just a scam to trick Facebook users into liking spammy Facebook pages, and in some cases, trick them into visiting third party marketing websites known to harvest the personal details of visitors in order to spam them.

The identities of high profile celebrities such as Dwayne Johnson, Vin Diesel and Oprah Winfrey are often used to perpetrate these scams, and it seems many like-farming scammers are now also using Ellen DeGeneres’ identity to trick victims too.

Facebook posts that claim to be from a celebrity giving away money to users who share a post and follow a page are all scams. Such giveaways or competitions simply don’t exist, and entering them can be disruptive. We have an article here that outlines three reasons why you should avoid such giveaways “just in case” they’re genuine.