Scammers are trying to trick people into liking their page

Feb 25, 2014 10:45 GMT  ·  By

There are many Internet users who would do anything for an Xbox One. If they see a Facebook competition that promises them the chance to get a console for free, they’ll probably jump to the opportunity without giving it too much thought.

Cybercrooks are counting on this, which is why they've launched a Facebook scam that promises Xbox One consoles to 180 “lucky” users.

“We have 180 Xbox One which can't be sold because they're unsealed so we are giving them out for free to some lucky people! Want To Get One? Just 'Share' this photo and 'Like' our page. Competition ends on the 4th March 2014. Good luck. (the more times you share, the more chances you have.),” read the scam posts spotted by Hoax Slayer.

In reality, no one gets an Xbox One. The photo that accompanies the post shows a pile of consoles, but the image is probably taken from the Internet and it doesn’t have anything to do with a giveaway.

The scammers that run this scheme hope to trick users into sharing the photo and liking their page because this way, they increase the page’s value. Once it gets a large enough number of likes, they can sell the page to others or repurpose it.

A Facebook page with a large number of likes is far more efficient at promoting shady websites, products or services than one that has just been created.