Rondyn musings: September 2016

Thursday, September 1, 2016

Bora Bora Free Vacation Scam

Wow! You just got a Facebook message saying you could win a free vacation to Bora Bora. The message will have something like the following text:

We're flying one person off to the Bora Bora along with 3 friends staying in one of our 5 star villas + $3,000 spending cash.The winner will be announced on 5th Sep!

Want to win? Simply follow the steps below to enter the competition:

Step 1) Like this Page
Step 2) Share on your wall (Very important)
Step 3) Click the "Sign Up" button on our page!

One share will be chosen at complete random!

Winners will be selected based on their wall post.
Thank you for joining. More power!

Sorry, it's a SCAM.

Legitimate companies running contests do it for the publicity, yet there is no name of the airline from which you will have to get airline tickets and no name of the resort where you will spend the vacation. Why would ANY company do this and remain anonymous?

The scam is almost identical to one that was recently put on Facebook as an American Airline (yes they forgot the "s") promotion. (See http://www.hoax-slayer.com/american-airline-free-tickets-facebook-scam.shtml). The pictures used in that scam AND HERE are from the Four Seasons Bora Bora (see http://www.bespoketraveller.gr/en/destinations/australia-south-pacific/tahiti-french-polynesia/four-seasons-bora-bora).

So why, you may ask, would scammers go to all of this trouble just to collect Facebook likes? In fact, a Facebook Page with high numbers of likes is a valuable commodity.

Once it has gained a lot of likes, such a Page may be used to launch survey scams, which can earn the scammers money via dodgy affiliate marketing schemes. The Page may also be used to launch other types of scams, or promote the owner's suspect products or services to a large potential audience.

Alternatively, the now like-heavy Page can be sold on the black market to unscrupulous Internet marketers. The new owners can re-purpose the Page to further their own nefarious goals.

Scams like this one are very common on Facebook. Scammers have created fake pages promising free tickets and trips from several major airlines. Be wary of any Facebook Page that promises valuable prizes such as airline tickets, vacations, or luxury cars just for liking, sharing, or participating in online surveys.

Do not like or share this information. It's a scam.

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