14 DAY TRIAL // Scammers have set up a fake “BMW Manager” page on Facebook which they’ve used to trick users into helping them increase its value on the underground market.
The scammers have posted the following message, allegedly written by the manager of the BMW Marketing Group:
“Hello Facebook!
My name is Kevin M.James.I am the manager of BMW Marketing Group and I own 12 BMW's.This is one of them, a brand new X6.
Guess what? I will donate this x6 to one of you. All you need to do is to like my fanpage and share this post with your friends. The winner will be selected randomly (28, February 2014) and he/she will receive the car within 7 business days.
Note: Don't forget to ‘LIKE’ and ‘SHARE’ otherwise you can't be selected.
Good luck!”
Of course, BMW doesn’t have anything to do with this BMW Manager page or with the alleged giveaway. Instead, as Hoax Slayer highlights, scammers are simply trying to trick users into liking their Facebook page to increase its value.
Facebook pages with a large number of likes can be highly valuable on the underground market because they can be utilized to promote all sorts of shady services, products or websites.
The image used for this scam shows Peter Kronschnabl, the president of BMW India, at the launch of the BMW X6 at a dealership in Mumbai back in 2009.
At the time of writing, the page appears to have been removed. However, Facebook users are advised to be cautious since similar pages could emerge at any time.
With their fake BWM X6 giveaway, scammers managed to trick over 18,000 people into liking the post, and over 27,000 into sharing it.
This isn’t the first time BMW’s reputation is leveraged by Facebook scammers. Back in October 2013, we warned users about a similar page advertising a BMW M5 giveaway.
In reality, BMW will probably never give out free cars to Facebook users. If you come across such pages on the social media website, be careful. If a contest is not advertised on the company’s official page, it’s probably part of a scam.
BMW is not the only company whose name is leveraged by scammers. Like farming schemes have also involved Chevrolet Camaro and Ford Mustang giveaways.
The best thing you can do in case you come across such pages is to report them to Facebook.