Where ever people congregate together, yes even in social networks and online communities, there will be scammers and unethical marketers. Here’s one – join the Facebook Fanpage and be given an iPad to test. I guess there are a number of differences today.
- One is that when we are fools, taken in by the scam, a journogger (journalist that raids social media for linkbait stories) or some other party could go through the 335,000 fans and name and shame anyone he or she recognises – social media experts, politicians, other journalists. We no longer learn our lesson in private but very publicly. But this could be a good thing because…
- … scams don’t last long. Have a read of those 679 comments. Anyone who takes two seconds will know not to become a Fan. By the time Facebook deletes the page, the community will have warned each other. Open communication triumphs private shame.
It’s actually a really good idea if you are looking to boost a page with a campaign competition. Short head of activity, big takeup, quick drop off. I’d join anything for an iPad 
more than the 100k of members they were looking for.
So I guess it’s a bit harder to scam the community when they are communicating amongst themselves. People are better protected when they are together, even when others are using those same tools to rort them. Amusing that social media sites are used to scam – and then to warn each other of the scam. Another case here. Irony, much?
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In a perfect world you would hope that people will listen to their peers, and act on the information. Alas a great deal of the Facebook crowd (as demonstrated by the recent Facebook login debacle on RWW) are not smart, nor are listening, nor read comments of others. It’s those people that these scams will always catch out.
completely concur. You can tell people that it’s too good to be true yet they will still believe it. And when it’s not they will be mad at you for pointing it out, not mad because it was a scam. Nothing you can do about those people.
disclaimer: I nearly joined the Fanpage (I want an iPad baaaad) but read the comments first….
Saw it. Reported it. I’m still surprised it has lasted that long on Facebook and hasn’t been taken down quicker.
I’ve had something similar to this pop up in my suggestions box in facebook. A free iPad for 45 year old males. What a coincidence.? There’s an article about it on technologizer.com. All the stuff they want you to buy into would cost you more than the price of an iPad.
I was referred to it by a friend – clicked on the 1st step to see what would happen (knowing it couldn’t suck the money out of my account with that click) and saw the details, checked out the linked site and admired the gall of the people who prey on the stupid and naive.
Then I unfanned and reported it.
My friend took a closer look and unfanned it as well.
It is a clever scam as it is structured to be believable and preys on an emotional desire. It may not even be technically illegal in Australia as apparently they tell you it will cost you money.
Cheers,
Craig
testing buzz button
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iPad scam on Facebook http://laurelpapworth.com/ipad-scam-on-facebook/
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