I have a sort of gut feeling about facebook offers and I've never been sucked into a scam, but sometimes I check my homepage and I see some of my friends falling hook, line and sinker for those God awful "comment, share and win a free iPad" sort of things. But then, some of these scam can seem so professionally made that it's hard to tell them apart. How do you do it?
I usually don't "buy in" to any offers unless someone I know has actually recommended something to me, and even then I might not take part in whatever they are talking about. I read so many offers online. Years ago I used to to get suckered into participating in this or that to win certain things, but no more. I hardly trust any offers online, even though some might be perfectly legit.
As the previous posted has said I also find that most facewbook offers aren't what they seem. I'm very easy about offers online anyway and it seems like most of the time a lot of these offers a that sound too good to be true usually are just that.
I dont like these sometimes. I can comment on something, but the whole comment and share? Nope. Seems fishy sometimes. There are also those pages that you have to like, then get some friends to like also, and put their names on a post so they can check them against the likes they have...I THINK these are against Facebook terms but not sure. Not like they seem to care anyway.
I tend to stick with the offers/contests/sweepstakes' that are from companies I know to be legitimate, through their actual Facebook page. Like everyone else, I've seen a lot of scammy looking posts/pages/offers, and am leery of being drawn in, so sometimes I'll forego one, even if the prize is something I really want/need, erring on the side of caution.
Well, if it's too good to be true, it probably isn't true. So iPads -- nah, I would not believe that. Especially for a facebook contest from a company that is not Apple. If the contest offers something that is specific to the company, then I'd believe it. That's basically it. But I rarely am swayed to try anyway, I hate those forms to fill and the waste of time is rarely rewarded.
Unless someone I am close with recommends the offer, I don't trust any of them. Usually the "Win a free gift card/[Insert Expensive Thing Here]" or "Get a free quote" are fake, even if someone recommends it. An offer may have a referral system, which causes more people to sign up for the fake offer, and in other words, most offers aren't worth your time at all.
I actually never stuck around on Facebook to experience enough offers, to work out how to figure out which ones were legit nd which ones were not. After a while, I just assumed that they were all scams. What initially drew me in, was the fact that a great number of my friends had bought into the offers too. From that, I assumed they were legit, when th
I never really take any notice of them because they seem too good to be true. They always lead to strange links and unless I have already 'followed' the page then I steer clear. My feed gets cluttered already with too many sponsored feeds and try to weed them out.
Well, the simple rule that I have in place is that I won't try out for any offers unless I specifically know of another person who the offer has already worked for. So if I have a friend who has received a product or discount I will try it, but if I don't have that evidence then I don't feel comfortable enough trusting the website in question. I will also never give my card details online. PayPal is the most that I can deal with as that isn't linked to any accounts that they could commit fraud with.
It's really not that hard. If they want you to take any type of survey or want you to share and tag people in stuff than it's more than likely it's a scam! Anything offering free tablets, tvs, phones or any type of thing like so than it is a scam. The only offers facebook really has are for facebook games for credits or whatever. So yeah I just stay away from all offers unless its through he games.
When I found an offer on Facebook posted from a random user, I have to be wary because it might be a scam or an affiliate link, so not always a real thing. When the offer comes from the official page of a company or retail store, chances are the offer is real. To find the difference between legit offers and dubious offers, usually the target website reveals itself, whether is a sales copy page, a poorly designed site, etc. etc.
It's always advisable to follow or like the pages of only reputable stores which you'll regularly buy from. All their offers will be legit. Friends you trust might hear of a great deal that you can take advantage of and if they share a deal then that deal might also be legit but you'll need to look around the net to find all the info that will give you the assurance that the deal is legit.
I agree with Diane Lane. I have entered contests from company site that says click here for their facebook page to enter. Unless it's that way I won't believe it. Facebook is a social site not a contest site, so many of the things offered may be a trick to get your information. It's best to check with the BBB site to see about facebook offers. I don't believe any offers from facebook is legit unless it comes from a business saying to go to their facebook page to enter.
My rule of thumb when it comes to special offers is to evaluate if it is too good to be true. Especially in online, scams are prevalent so you have to be very careful. Just recently, I had ordered in Mizzue an item costing costing 1,800 pesos but the delivery guy charged me 1,200 for tax. Can you imagine that? A local online dealer sending me an ordered purse straight from Hongkong and with tax at that. That's a scam.
I don't really waste my time with such things. I don't think I get a lot of offers like that on my facebook page, because I never click on them. It is like in the early days of the internet...where you would get the fake...you are a winner page..it was just a come on to buy something.
I don't know if there is a sure-fire way to avoid such things. In instances like this, I think you just have to rely on good ol' common sense. I actually got into a semi-argument with my little sister over a silly offer a little while ago. It was something like "Like this picture and Mark Zuckerberg will personally send you a $100 Walmart gift card!" So I responded to her post like "Sis, I'm pretty sure this is a scam," and she had the gall to get angry with me! LOL!
