I’ve been using Facebook for far too many years now, and one thing that is perennial is people sharing competitions in the hope that they will be one of the lucky ones that will win a car or a holiday or a brand new iPhone. However, a lot of these competitions are fake and are aimed at folks who may not be savvy about how to spot a scam. Here are my top tips for things to check BEFORE you click like or share!
- Check the page that’s hosting the competition. Good things to look for: a) A blue tick (unless it’s a small or local business that may not have one), b) The correct company logo and name (companies use comps to boost their actual page likes, they will NEVER set up a page just for a competition. if the page is just called “Holidays in Croatia or whatever, it’s likely not legit), c) Posts about the business, not just the competition (If it’s just posts about the competition and random pictures, it’s a fake profile and not a likely competition).
- What’s the prize? Are they saying they are giving away perfect iPhones because the box got opened or holidays that weren’t claimed or a load of cars? If it’s too good to be true, it probably is. Now, some companies will do some big giveaways, but if it’s failed step one above and is promising the earth, avoid!
- What do you need to do to enter?
If it’s failed step one and wants you to click a link - DO NOT DO IT - dodgy links can cause a lot of hassle and you could end up with your info going to a sketchy company, and allowing the dodgy page to post to your own Facebook, which your friends will then trust.
The same goes for liking the page - dodgy pages with loads of likes from people who they might see as gullible are very useful for doing things like targeting fake ads and collecting some of your info. Just don’t do it - and unlike any of the random pages you might have already liked if you can!
A lot of competitions will ask you to like the page and share the post. Small local businesses need your support on Facebook as they have small advertising budgets, but this isn’t the way to go about it.
Asking you to like a page, share a post or tag a friend are all against Facebook’s terms of service. By all means like the page and share it to spread the word, but it shouldn’t have a prize attached.
(I don’t mind if you want to like or share this post to make your friends & family aware)
