Yet another scam has been spreading like wildfire on the social networking giant Facebook. The new scam is spreading with the title – “Get a FREE Pair of Toms Shoes (Limited Time Only)” and has the following message – “Toms is currently giving away FREE pairs of shoes to select Facebook users for a limited time!” with a link to a bogus web page.
Clicking on the link provided in the message will take you to a bogus site where you are asked to share the message with your friends on Facebook and “like” the page.
The new scam is similar to the other Gift Card scams which have been doing the rounds of Facebook lately and asks users to complete a survey before they can get hold of the “free shoes”. The scammers ask the users to post the page to their profile and also like the Facebook page using the Facebook like button.
Scammers create such Facebook pages with names such as Apple iPad Beta Testers Wanted, Free Facebook Shoes, Free iPad Giveaway!” and so on, in order to target on people who desire to win free gifts. Facebook pages like this are created to increase the number of likes.
The ultimate goal of scammers is to get as many numbers of shares and likes. You’re just being tricked into “liking” a Facebook page which will gain you nothing. As soon as you “like” something on Facebook, the link is shared with your friends. They in turn may click on it – just as you did – and then continue spreading this nonsensicality.
It is recommended that you avoid clicking such link messages on Facebook and also warn your friends about it. If in case you were tricked into a scam like this despite being careful, then worry not. Here are a few things that might help you get rid of them -
- Check the security settings on your Facebook account. If you did not authorize apps that you are not aware of, then you should revoke permissions granted to it.
- Security application for protecting you from Facebook scams.
- Have a look at your own news feeds. If anything unfamiliar or come across posts that you didn’t write, then you should consider deleting/removing them from your feed immediately.
- Removing apps from Facebook.
- How To Avoid Facebook Like-Jacking Scams
- A list of Most Actively Spreading Scams on Facebook that you might want to have a look at.
With over 800 million users on Facebook, the social networking giant has always been the main target for spreading scams and spam messages. It is quite difficult to identify scams on Facebook. Here is a post on How to Identify and Avoid Facebook Scams. Bookmark Techie Buzz Facebook Scams or Subscribe to Scam Alert Feed. We always keep you updated with the latest scams spreading on Facebook. Alternatively, you can follow our dedicated scams page on Facebook – Techie Buzz Scam Monitor.
