Don't fall for false giveaways with legit-looking comments, these are tactics to scam social media users
IN SHORT: Facebook posts claim social media users can win devices by "simply" answering three questions. But it's a scam: the proof is in unrelated links and suspicious comments.
A Facebook post circulating in South Africa claims that a store is "giving away unwrapped phones" due to "the release of a new model".
"Due to the release of a new model, the store is giving away unwrapped phones to every South African over the age of 30 Answer 3 questions to get the phone ⤵️," it reads.
The post does not mention which "store" this is, but the cellphones in the image appear to be Apple-branded iPhones. Some of the phones have a sticker on them which reads "discount price R36" (about US$2).
There is a link attached to the post, accessed through an "order now" button.
Similarly, another Facebook post claims that Harvey Norman, an Australian retailer, is giving away an "old Iphone 15 pro ... left without a box due to logistical errors".
The post is similar to the previous one, also asking users to click on the "apply now" button.
At first glance, the offers seem legit, and many comments on the posts appear to verify that they are authentic.
However, Africa Check dug a little deeper and noticed that a scam was afoot.
Unrelated websites with no form to fill in
We started our investigation by clicking on the links in each Facebook post. This is where things started to get a little weird.
The first post's link took us to an article titled "6 Tips for Responding to Negative Reviews on Social Media" by a customer engagement solutions company called Spectrio.
The second post's link also took us to an article, this one titled "iPhone 16 Review: Unveiling Apple's Latest Devices" by Gistly, a tool that uses the generative artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT to summarise YouTube videos.
Neither of the links took us to a website where a form could be filled in to answer "3 questions" to get an iPhone, and there was nowhere to pay the "discounted price of R36".
Linking to unrelated websites is a tactic often used by scammers to gain wider reach for their posts: the scammer doesn't actually offer anything and therefore has no website but hopes their post will be shared widely.
This tactic is also used to lure users to websites that earn advertising revenue for their owners.
Suspicious comments
Quite a few comments on both posts suggest that social media users have been receiving their "unwrapped" or "unboxed" iPhones.
But on closer inspection, it's clear that these comments are a means of making the offer seem more legit and form part of the scam.
First, some of the images used in some of the comments have been downloaded from the internet and are not original images from those commenting.
For example, the image used in the first comment below can be found here and here.
Some of the comments, like the second above, do appear to corroborate the claim that the phones arrive "unwrapped" or "unboxed".
However, many of the commenters say that their phone came in the box, as if new. One commenter even posts an image of an iPhone in its box in front of a bag from South African telecommunications provider Telkom.
Both Facebook posts also feature suspiciously similar comments. For example, the first comment below, from the first post, is almost identical to the second comment below from the second post.
This is a red flag that the comments are fake and may have been written by the same person, despite appearing to be from two different Facebook accounts.
User warned others of similar scam
When digging deeper into the claim, we found a repost of the first Facebook post, where a user warns fellow followers that the giveaway is a scam:
"Don't fall for that advert below. I once read comments, I believe by that time they were advertising Samsung S23 if I remember well, they said they are on sale because the boxes are trustworthy."
"I didn't waste time, I paid money and waited for delivery. After 3 days an sms comes in saying my parcel has been dropped off, I click on the link, only to find that they want more money."
Someone requesting more money than initially advertised or agreed on is a big red flag that a too-good-to-miss offer is, in fact, a scam.
Tips for keeping safe on social media
There are other very similar scams on Facebook. Other posts doing the rounds in South Africa claim that "Amazon is throwing away old DeII Inspiron laptops that were left without a box due to logistical errors".
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These claims use the same tactics, such as asking users to answer "3 questions" via a link, including an unrelated link, and having fake comments corroborate the false offers.
So how do you keep safe on social media? We've got some tips to help you spot Facebook scams:
- Look for obvious errors: Poor writing, spelling, and grammar are all signs of a scam. Also look out for sentences written in "ALL CAPS" or an abundance of exclamation marks.
- Be suspicious when it comes to cash: Scams that directly ask for money are the easiest to spot. Be wary of offers that ask you to pay upfront.
- Unrelated websites: These websites are normally easy to spot: they feature information unrelated to the claim or colourful banners and pop-up ads. Be sure to check whether the URL or web address matches the company named in the post.
- The share, comment and inbox trap: Scammers often ask people to interact by liking, commenting on or sharing a post, which are examples of engagement bait.
- Play your part! Because Facebook scams thrive on reach, it's important to keep on scrolling and not spread a dodgy post further.
