Free Gift Card Scams Hit Facebook

by Matthew Zuras on April 7, 2010 at 04:35 PM

Last week, your devoted Switched writer was, himself, hit with one of these new, fraudulent Facebook gift card invites -- in the form of a promised $500 certificate to Whole Foods (sent from a trusted friend, no less). Amateur gastronome that he is, his common sense was momentarily besieged by the promise of no-strings organic produce. Thankfully, though, after noticing that the invite demanded to be forwarded to all his Facebook friends (before redirecting to a survey page), your writer's wits returned. A quick search netted some tweets by the WF honchos, confirming that this was indeed a scam. Close tab.

The thing that your writer forgot, and something we should all know, is that no company will hand out gifts that large for simply becoming a Facebook fan. And yet these scams are spawning like Tribbles, promising $1,000 gift cards for companies like Best Buy and Ikea. But it's tricky for Facebook to separate the wheat from the chaff, because some businesses do offer giveaways through their Facebook accounts. Simon Axten, a spokesman for Facebook, told SFGate that the company is working toward a solution to the problem, saying that it's "building an automated system to detect this type of suspicious content and behavior more quickly before it's even reported."

Even so, the problem has not been solved, and probably won't be in the near future. Facebook users should exercise the same caution they should've been exercising in the past, but be wary of offers that sounds too good to be true -- even if they're extended by friends. Pages dedicated to a single offer are a sure tip-off, as are mangy graphics, which might suggest it's not coming from a big retailer's marketing team. And anything that sounds like a chain letter (e.g., "Forward this to all of your friends.") is definitely suspicious, as are long surveys that serve only to collect your personal information. Keep vigilant, Facebookers, and don't make the same mistakes your writer almost has. [From: SFGate]

Tags: facebook, FacebookScam, scam, SocialNetworking, top, web

Comments

Patty PApr 8th 2010 3:02PM

Neutral

Just a couple things .....
I AM sorry that your trust in a name (friends name) got the better of you. I bet it will NEVER happen again ...
And I am SO way tickled to read your special mention of....And yet these scams are spawning like Tribbles, ( one of my favorite Star Treks...that and "Name is Mudd... Harcor Phenton Mudd"

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divadineApr 8th 2010 3:29PM

Neutral

It happened to me. They used one of my Friends names to become "a fan" of $1,000.00
gift card for Kohl's. I did it. Coming from a friend, I thought I could go thru it.
What a mistake. I was answering all the survey questions. then realized it was a scam.
Since then, I have goten all kinds of Telemarketers, not only that, I am getting daily text messages from a company who will not let you stop them..Daily joke is sent to my phone from a Fly.com ( I think). I do not know how to end this scam. It is still going on. :( My mistake. BUT, NEVER AGAIN. It sucks.

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DivingAngel913Apr 9th 2010 11:24AM

Neutral

just call your phone company and tell them what's going on they should be able to help, because chances are you are getting charged for those texts too.

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FOURDOGSLAUGHINGApr 8th 2010 3:36PM

Neutral

if u want to avoid these scams, just cancel all yopur facebook, twitterand myspace accounts and never open an email that seems suspcious to u ! simple as that !

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rantfreelyApr 8th 2010 6:52PM

Neutral

Simple as that !

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ashley_ison2011Apr 9th 2010 7:07AM

Neutral

it's not necessary to cancel your social networking accounts. Just have some damn common sense.

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Ronald WoodsApr 9th 2010 9:08AM

Neutral

Now here is someone that is smarter than the average bear. Facebook, myspace, plenty of fish, and all the rest is for people that want to use other people. I tried all of them and wouldn't give the time of day to them. So yes if you don't want the headache then all you have to do is delete the stupid crap. Thank you and have a wonderful day. God Bless you all.

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mafrauApr 8th 2010 6:30PM

Neutral

1800-STOP-FRAUD works! "Never believe FREE! If it is to go to be." -mf
Rhymes so what the heck.

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RichardApr 8th 2010 7:10PM

Neutral

Did you mean: "If it seems too good to be true, then it probably is..."?

(It was difficult to decode.)

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jake_ivApr 8th 2010 7:18PM

Neutral

It is shameful, but Americans have come to expect and look for "something for nothing" as their birth right. "There ain't no free lunch", free school lunches - in exchange for control of your schools; free rent support, in exchange for choice of where to live and higher home prices; free support for single parent families in exchange for abondoning your spouse; free medical care in exchange for choosing your provider; free grocery discounts - in exchange for letting some store geek track all of your purchases and paymentsn; ad nausium. The bottom line is simple - even your government can't "give" you "something for nothing"; in order to give it to you they have to take it from someone else. No matter how you cut it - that is stealing. And it doesn't matter who does the stealing. If you try to get some of it you are just as bad.

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KrisApr 8th 2010 7:39PM

Neutral

yeaa just dont click on the link and nuthin will happen!!

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AApr 9th 2010 8:28AM

Neutral

Scam or promotion? To me it's just a marketing plo no worse than new and improved Tide.

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JerseyGirl71Apr 9th 2010 9:19AM

Neutral

I see posts for this kind of nonsense show up on my FB 'wall' from a few select people I play some of the games with. I don't fall for these scams in email so why would I fall for them just because they are on FB??? Some people are just so gullible and no matter how nice you are about telling them that these offers are garbage, they just keep doing it with the next one that comes along! Then I just laugh when they complain about having computer issues.. serves them right I say. Facebook is full of scammers, hacked and viral links that are all too good to be true. I agree that these are just people looking to get something for nothing... and don't think about the consequences that come from falling for all the nonsense.

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T PatrickApr 9th 2010 11:19AM

Neutral

and Its not only this.

Someone created a Dell website giveaway that promised free laptops. It all looked SO legit and even checked out on line. Everything seemed to check as a marketing campaign. It's not and now my email is stuffed with 10 - 25 spams a day.

If this had come as an email link I wouldnt have given it a 2nd look - but you assume Facebook is keeping watch out on these things and they are not.

Be very careful

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