A post on Facebook claims to be offering 65 inch Samsung TVs that – according to the post – cannot be sold due to “slight scratches”. The post asks users to share the post and a comment asks users to click Sign Up to get one of the TVs
An example of the post as it appears on Facebook is below.
We’ve had 350 Samsung 65” TV’s delivered.
Sadly 27 of them had slight scratches and can’t be sold, share by 11pm tomorrow to win 1
It’s another Facebook like-farming scam in the guise of a giveaway. Our regular readers will no doubt be very familiar with these types of scams.
Like-farming refers to the spammy technique crooks use to trick users into engaging with social media posts using deception or exploitation. Learn more about like-farming here.
The usual red flags for a like-farming fake giveaway are all present here. These include –
1. The Facebook page that made the post doesn’t belong to the real Curry’s brand. It lacks the blue verification tick the genuine page would have.
2. And the Page Transparency tool reveals the page was only created on June 5th 2020. The real Curry’s page will have been active for years.
3. The page asks people (in the comments) to click the page’s Sign Up button to stand a chance of getting a TV. As usual, this link leads to the usual spammy third party marketing website that has nothing to do with Curry’s.
4. The age old trick of claiming a TV has been “slightly scratched” and has to be given away for free is used again here. This trick is years old. Companies can sell merchandise that has been slightly damaged provided they make it clear to the consumer what the damage is.
Sponsored Content. Continued below...
At the time of writing, the page has well over 350 thousand shares, demonstrating that despite both the age and unoriginality of these scams, there are still plenty of people willing to share them “just in case” they’re genuine.
However, sharing these scams can be dangerous, even when shared “just in case”.
These scams try and lead users to spammy third party marketing websites that harvest personal information. This can lead to being spammed via phone, text, post and email. Such sites are also associated with identity fraud.
Also those who engage with these posts can be contacted by the spammers pretending to represent Curry’s in order to trick them into parting with their money. For example, users may be told they’re won a TV but must pay for courier costs.
Sponsored Content. Continued below...
While the person sharing the post may feel confident that they won’t fall for these scams, or won’t give away their information, remember that by sharing the post, you’re passing it on to your friends on social media, who may consequently get scammed.
So don’t share these posts just in case! It’s dangerous to you and your friends. They’re just not real!