Facebook has played a massive role in changing how competitions work online. However, one thing they’ve not been good at it stopping fake competitions manifesting themselves across the network. Most regular compers will probably already know how to spot a fake Facebook competition – they’re often too good to be true (100 iPhones to be won), are run on pages that aren’t official and lack any kind of terms. However people still get caught out by them and end up liking/following a page which has no intention of dishing out any prizes. So, today we spotted another fake competition and have decided to use it as a guide to help others. The details from “Range- Rover Sport” are as follows: “In facebook history we are giving way 2 Range Rover Sport 2016 to two winners that we will select on Oct 9 2016 completely at random”.
You’re A Fake! Baby!
There’s so much on this page that screams “fake”. Firstly the spelling of “Range- Rover Sport” – the majority of brands will have pages that are spelt and punctuated correctly. Verified pages will have blue ticks next to their name. Let’s imagine for a moment there are two Range Rover Sports to be won – would they be given away on the page above or by Landrover’s official page below?
Check The Page Content
Compare the two screen shots above. There’s the page name and blue tick as mentioned but what else gives the game away? Well check out the “About” sections. One tells you that the page is the “official home of Land Rover UK”, the other has nothing! There’s no website link so we don’t even know who’s given the prize away. The content of the page is another big giveaway. Landrover’s official page is full of content, whilst the fake Range- Rover Sport page has just one post. That one post also has another in it to tell you to leave well alone. There are no terms and conditions! We don’t know who’s giving the car away, who can enter, what’s involved, nothing! If this was a website competition most people would run a mile, but because it’s on Facebook people like and share “just in case”. At time of writing the fake competition above had received 18,719 shares and picked up 7,318 followers. The competitions are run to build up high following pages which can be sold on – well unless Facebook gets to them first and shuts them down.
Top Tips For Spotting Fake Facebook Comps
- 1. Check the spelling of the page name. Fakers will use full stops, spaces and dashes to fool you to believing it’s the real brand name.
- 2. Look for the blue tick. This indicates a verified site. Most major brands will have one!
- 3. Review the ‘About’ section of the page – if there’s nothing there then that’s not a good sign.
- 4. See if a website is linked anywhere – again if there’s nothing start to question why.
- 5. Check the page’s other posts. If it’s a one competition post page you might want to leave it alone.
- 6. Check for terms – all competitions need them, and if big prizes are on offer, you’ll want to see them!
If It’s Too Good To Be True
To help you we’ve ringed the areas in red that you should look at…
Finally remember the mantra – if it seems to be too good to be true, then it usually is!