Facebook Scams

It’s hard to miss Facebook friends signing up to groups in an effort to ‘win a free iPad’, ‘a digital camera if you invite your friends’ or Get £300 to spend at Topshop. Some effort is put into these group landing pages, including embedded video and apparently official images. But ‘step 2 – tell your friends’ should tip you off.

Distressing as this development is, a backlash against scammers is starting. This is what came up when we typed in ‘facebook scam’ whilst searching for ‘everyone’s’ Facebook updates.

Scam groups and brand jacking are becoming more and more common across social networking sites and this is bound to impact on how consumers view and engage with genuine brand Twitter streams and Facebook fan pages and groups.
 
Now more than ever, brands need to use these spaces with a genuine understanding of consumers needs and mindsets within these digital spaces. As scammers become more convincing and persuasive in their efforts brands will have to work harder to prove they are the genuine article – particularly where competitions and giveaways are concerned.