Purpose of the fake giveaway is to collect Facebook likes

Dec 27, 2014 16:26 GMT  ·  By

Cybercriminals know very well that the bigger the prize in a giveaway, the larger the number of participants, and that’s why they started to run a scam on Facebook that promises two BMW M5 cars as a possible reward.

The fake offer comes via a post, most of the times from a friend in the list who has already taken the bait.

It's a common trick, don't fall for it

Such scams have become quite common during the holiday season, as crooks also promised two Audi R8 sports cars and Samsung 4k Ultra HD Curved TVs in similar fake raffles.

The incentive is simple: all the user has to do is access a given page and “like” it, share it and drop a comment.

These may seem like harmless actions, but they bring money in the pockets of the crooks as their purpose is to increase the value of the page in order to sell it. The more Facebook likes they amass, the bigger their payment.

This scam is called like-farming and it can generate thousands of dollars. Usually, a certain amount is paid per 1,000 likes, but such scams aim high, and tens of thousands of likes can be accumulated, bringing the crooks a hefty profit with very little effort.

Reusing the page in other scams is yet another reason for the Facebook giveaway deceit. Online surveys are often the main purpose of the scam, also designed to generate revenue, piggybacking on the effort of the unsuspected user, who completes them in an attempt to fulfill the requests of the fake giveaway.

Check the page before dropping a comment or liking it

Obviously, there is no prize to be won and all the victim does is help crooks make money. Neither the Facebook page nor the posts are associated with BMW, OTA reports.

The most important aspect is that all the input provided by the users falls in the hands of the cyber-crooks, who can use it in future malicious campaigns.

Fortunately, at the time of writing, the page has been removed by Facebook, but it is unclear how many have already interacted with it.

In the previous tricks, tens of thousands of likes, shares and comments have been added to the fake giveaway pages, increasing popularity and thus their value.

Anyone can create a page and publish anything they want on it. The recommendation is to refrain from participating if the page or its owner is not verified in any way.