I’ve told you all about coupon scams and hoax celebrity contests online before. I’m sure by now, there’s a lot of you who could write an article like this. But for some reason, these lessons seem not to sink in at all for some people. And these are fairly intelligent folks with careers and responsibilities who should know a lot better.
Case in point: Two scams that were shared by multiple people that I know in their Facebook feeds this week.
The first one is ye olde coupon scam. One that everyone and their brother should know is a big fat, hoax by this time. Here’s the lie:
Here’s a close-up of the coupon lie:
I’m not sure why anyone would believe that a company would give everyone with a Facebook account $150 off at every single one of their stores. But if you buy that, I’ve got a bridge in Brooklyn and a big canyon in Arizona I’d like to sell you for that $150 you’re going to save. To quote Judge Judy, “It doesn’t make sense. And if it doesn’t make sense, it’s not true.”
I’m sure if you follow instructions, they will inbox you right away, probably with another scam or a link to a site that will infect your PC or phone with malware. Who knows, they might even be able to steal all your passwords and drain your bank account. And to make matters even worse, people keep sharing this on their timelines, putting their friends in danger.
But, wait! I’ve got an even worse scam. At least this coupon scam takes a crack at looking like the real thing. This Ellen scam doesn’t even try. It looks like it was made by a 10-year-old. I mean it does say that it’s not a fraud, so I guess it has to be real. I’m sure Ellen is going to give 5000 people $30,000,0000 each. I mean, she’s loaded but I don’t think her show has 15 billion to hand out.
They didn’t even take a crack at spelling her name correctly.
But look at all the folks that have shared this? Just over 3,000 at the time I wrote this and it’s sure to grow exponentially. I can’t wait to see what turns up in their feeds and inboxes now that scammers know they are easy targets.
I think my favorite part about this scam is this assurance that It’s a real account.
I’m tempted to say that people get what they deserve, but nobody deserves to be scammed. So remember to read things before you share them. And if you see friends spreading junk like this, speak up!