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I don't know if we've all done it, but I'm thinking many have fallen prey to the scammers out there on Facebook (Or any other social media or email venue) where you're promised something if you like their page, share it, comment on it, etc., etc..
But in many cases, those 'too good to be true' or 'easy money' schemes are just set up to collect user information, and you or others have fallen for it.
I fell for a scam the other day when a trusted peer shared a scam that Lowe's was giving a small home away. There was a great looking FB page and what not. So I jumped on board to be in the running for this great giveaway.
I had assumed my friend had vetted it, but I was wrong. So my first lesson was...
No matter who shares something that looks good, always do your due diligence. And if you liked a page or shared or commented or messaged them, you've given them access to your content, and, potentially content from your friend's profiles.
So What is due diligence and How Can You Avoid This Crap?
In my case, this is what I did (Once AFTER I entered a contest or coupon or giveaway; and once, BEFORE I followed all the directions to enter a contest):Take a look at the Facebook page itself of the entity holding this contest.
-It will probably have a short internet life-span, as in, just a few posts or isn't very old.
-It will probably not be a verified page. The verified version or real version of a company, will have a blue check mark next to it's name and when you hover your mouse over it, there will be a pop-up explaining what a verified page is.
In my errant case, there was the real Lowe's, then there was the 'Lowe's USA' FAKE page. I did an internet search for this "Lowes USA" page, but I kept ending up at a Lowes page... Just a Lowes page, not a page for Lowes USA.
In this case, I reached out to a Lowe's customer service contact, via the real Lowe's, by going to it by opening up a web browser and going straight to the Lowe's page. NOT via any link in the contest or giveaway page.
It's there that the great customer service rep looked into any contests that Lowe's was holding and said nope, not us. BOOM!
So in the end, when you see a contest, even if a friend has entered it, do your due diligence and protect yourself by researching the things before entering and giving the evil-doers access to your profile.
So What To Do When You Learn There's a Fake Contest Or Giveaway?
After you've discovered you or your friends have been duped, I-Blocked the entity in my messenger,
-Reported the page to Facebook
-Alerted all my friends via my personal page and my consumer FB pages.
-Reach out to the entity they're impersonating to let them know. Sometimes they have 'notify of spam' contact links.
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