I’m seeing more and more links left on The Coupon Project Facebook wall to sites I believe to be scams, so I wanted to do a quick post to alert you. First off, let me state that I fully believe that the people leaving these links are just trying to score a freebie, and aren’t personally trying to harm anyone.
So, have you clicked on a link that took you to a ”Facebook page” like this? Or maybe you’ve seen one about free groceries at Walmart?
Through a little observation, you should have a couple red flags pop up that this is NOT a Facebook site.
Red Flag #1: The Google ads in the sidebars. Facebook does not run Google ads. They run Facebook ads. DOH!
Red Flag #2: Look at the url and you’ll see you are no longer on Facebook. DOUBLE DOH!
Yup…that’s right. It’s a blogspot address. It’s a site made to look like a Facebook site. (Hmmmm…think this might infringe on Facebook’s trademark? Or Starbucks’?)
Here’s what I found at the bottom of the site….
And here’s what you’d find at the bottom of a legit Facebook page…
Now here is the part that I – and all the other Facebook page owners out there - absolutely loathe. The part about how you get your “freebie.”
Yup, that’s right. They want you to SPAM our Facebook walls with their phony link. (Or you can share it on “twiiter.” Nice.) There is no other word for what they are asking you to do. It’s SPAM. And it’s completely unappreciated by me and the other Facebook page administrators out there.
So what’s at the end of all of this? Well, I can just about guarantee you you’re not getting a gift card. But what you have done? Driven traffic to this site, so they could potentially profit off their Google ads. And if you’ve provided them any info, congratulations! Some unknown party now has your personally identifying information and who knows what they might choose to do with it.
My goal here is NOT to shame any of you if you’ve fallen for this scam. My goal here is to help bring awareness and protect you. I am outraged that people would create phony sites like these and prey on folks who are just out for a freebie. I could see how easy it might be to fall for something like this, if you don’t know what you’re looking for. Are there legitimate Facebook freebies and offers? Yes, there are! And I hope this post will help you begin to identify which may be legitimate and which you should avoid with a 10 foot pole.
I also want to let you know that any messages left on The Coupon Project wall like this will be immediately deleted in order to prevent the scam from being spread further.
Thanks for reading all, and stay safe! Now…let’s go enjoy some REAL freebies, shall we?
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Wonderfl article!! I am going to share this!! Thanks for looking out
!
Thanks for the warning! I haven’t seen one of these but now I know what to look for.
I’ve deleted all the links so far that have been left. I bet I’ve had about 10-12 of these links left on my page. I just wanted folks to have a big heads up if they see a similar message placed on my or another FB wall before it can be deleted.
Ugh, I have had to turn off posting on my wall because of all the spam. And I had a reader get very upset with me because she had been posting links and I have no idea where they are coming from. I hate that we cannot even do simple things online without the threat of spam, adware, personal info stolen, etc. Thanks for posting!
Oh I’m not at that point, thank goodness!! Most of my readers that leave messages on my wall are 100% appreciated! I love hearing their stories, getting questions, and seeing pics of their trips, etc. I would say the overwhelming majority of people that participate on there have made it a wonderful, vibrant community. I would rather delete the few links/posts that are harmful or spam than penalize everyone in the process. Of course, you have to do what you think is in the best interest of your site and how you want to grow your Facebook community. Thanks Carol & best wishes!
Thank you for posting this! Wonderful article!
Angela–one more reason to love your site. Great common sense advice. I am naturally leery of these types of things, but tho I can usually spot the shady idiosyncracies, it was so nice to have you break down multiple places to check. Thanks for all your hard work…where DO you get your energy? I have little ones and am happy just to try to keep up, but you are out there getting the deals, reporting/maintaining your blog, keeping your garden going, your kids smiling, AND training for marathons! Wowza!
Well, truth be told, I dropped the marathon! I decided spending time with my kiddos on Saturdays was more important (and hey, fun?) than running 16+ milers.
Life is full, but life is good.
Thanks, Christy.
On a related note, I’d like to put in a little plug for using snopes.com
before forwarding emails to your friends.
I get so many emails that are well-intentioned, but flat-out made up.
It’s that old, “If if sounds too good to be true,” adage.
I’ll second that plug!! So much drama could be avoided if people would take a lil’ time out first. Thanks, Maegen!
Great article, you touched on things I probably wouldn’t even have noticed! I’m going to share so my readers have the information too.
It’s not so much that I mind people posting on my Wall (as like you said, most of them are probably just thinking they are getting a freebie), but I personally don’t post anything on there that I can’t verify or to a site I don’t trust. This is why I delete or hide the posts on my Wall. If I can’t verify it, I don’t want anyone clicking on it, even just out of curiosity.
Thanks for sharing this! It’s excellent! I just noticed several scams today, actually, so I shared this post on my Facebook site. I don’t have nearly the Facebook traffic as you, but these scams can definitely be a nuisance!
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