How to spot giveaway scams on social media
However, you must also be wary of compromised verifications; sometimes, reputable people are hacked and lose their accounts. Unfortunately, these malicious attackers use stolen social media accounts to perpetrate mischievous acts, such as creating scandalous giveaways. Compers are an ideal target for social media scammers – we enter so many giveaways, it’s easy to fool us with a fake prize draw or ‘congratulations’ message. It’s especially tricky for brand new compers to identify what’s genuine and what’s not.
With check marks on the profiles of verified sponsors, you are assured that you can engage a brand with the assurance that they are legitimate. It’s basically a stamp of trust, giving you the confidence to dive in and participate with peace of mind. Authentic giveaways are not just about a simple click of a button; they’re designed to foster engagement and interaction with the sponsoring brand or project. On the other hand, fake giveaways often require minimal effort, such as mindlessly liking or sharing a post without any deeper engagement. They lack the genuine intention of building a connection with their audience.
Fake ‘congratulations’ messages are the most common giveaway scam on social media. Hashtags are a great way to get your posts seen on Instagram. If you notice that a giveaway post has lots of hashtags – especially if they’re irrelevant types of cryptography attacks – then it may not be a real giveaway. Even if it is real, it’s aimed at a wide audience and is using spammy tactics. So if you see spelling mistakes, blurry images or basic language errors, then you could be looking at a fake giveaway.
After all, giveaways are designed to promote a brand. So why wouldn’t they share it all over their socials, website, and email newsletters? If you can’t find any mention of the giveaway on the brand’s other channels, then it might not be real.
Imagine having access to a platform where every giveaway is verified, transparent, and fair. Giveaway.com brings this vision to life, offering you a centralized hub where you can explore a multitude of genuine giveaways at a glance. No more wasting time and energy on dubious contests or worrying about falling into the hands of scammers.
- Join the community, explore the opportunities, and let the thrilling world of giveaways unfold before your eyes.
- With Giveaway.com, you can trust that the winners are chosen based on a genuinely random selection process, giving everyone an equal chance to win.
- Another variation is “You must have 5k+ followers to win”.
- In some Instagram hacking scams, scammers may try to blackmail you as a form of harassment or for financial gain.
- But if you find a giveaway floating in cyberspace without any ties to a verified brand account, tread carefully.
We’ll also equip you with knowledge of unique tools you can apply to participate in giveaways and verify legitimacy. If something seems too good to be true, then it probably is. Legitimate contests and giveaways won’t ask for upfront payments or for sensitive personal information right off the bat. Always do your research before participating in any contest or giveaway. Knowledge is power and being aware of recent scams can be one of the best ways to prevent falling victim to them. Let’s dive into some examples of recent scams that have taken place in the world of contests and giveaways.
Phishing scams
In some cases, it’s possible that the account was once real and has been hijacked by scammers on Instagram to fool others. While there are plenty of legitimate influencers on the app, some of them are fake accounts designed to deceive you. Another worthy organization in this regard is the easymarkets review 2020 Contest and Sweepstakes Trade Association (CSTA), focusing solely on contests and giveaways. Their mission is to foster a best-practice environment through effective self-regulation. Inputting the contest or giveaway details into an internet search engine can yield helpful results.
The giveaway account is a famous brand name, but it’s not verified
There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data. Protect your personal information and your finances by exercising caution. Don’t let the allure of an extravagant prize cloud your judgment. When in doubt, conduct thorough research and look for verifiable evidence of authenticity before diving into any online contest.
How to Spot a Fake Giveaway on Instagram – and What to Do Next
Many SuperLucky readers have won amazing prizes as ‘redrawn’ winners, where the original winners haven’t claimed the prize. If you’re unsure about whether a winning notification is genuine, feel free to ask for advice from the members of my Lucky Learners Facebook group. Radaris, with its advanced data-checking features, can help verify the authenticity of giveaways by scrutinizing related information and thus act as a defence against scams.
The giveaway isn’t mentioned on the brand’s website or other social media
If you can’t find any contact information, or the organizer doesn’t respond to your messages, then you should be suspicious. When a giveaway is run fairly, the organizer should be able to show you the evidence. A certificate of validity proves that the prize draw was free, fair, and random. At Easypromos, we generate a public, permanent certificate for every single Instagram giveaway on our platform.
And if you’re not sure, try running the photo through a quick Google Image search to see if it’s been posted before. Imagine you see a tempting giveaway, so you click through to the organizer’s profile. But there are no posts in their feed – just the giveaway. Check the giveaway rules and the profile information (such as the bio link or email address) to make sure that it’s legitimate.
From seemingly lucrative investment opportunities to fake job offers, there are many ways a scammer may appear in your direct messaging inbox. Here are a dozen known Instagram scams to avoid today. Scammers will exploit almost any platform to dupe victims, and Instagram is no exception. Many of their ploys follow a well-known formula, so check out this guide to learn more about Instagram scams and how to spot, report, and avoid them.
In some cases, these accounts will have a high number of followers, views, and likes. If you share music on Instagram, you may be subject to music promotion scams. Compared to other scams, music promotion scams are much more specific and may only apply to musicians. With many people losing their jobs during the pandemic, scammers looked to take advantage of the situation by promoting fake job postings on Instagram.
Your personal information is valuable – treat it that way. Counterfeit contests often lure entrants with a link that takes you to an unfamiliar website. Check the URL of both the contest page and the sponsoring company’s page. If the URLs look suspicious or do not match, it’s likely a scam.
Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) also helps in maintaining the legitimacy of online advertisements and contests. They offer various regulation programs that help maintain the credibility of digital marketing. If you come across a competition or giveaway promoted through online advertising, you could try to verify difference between iaas paas and saas its legitimacy through the IAB. Official contests, whether on a website or social media, are generally very professional. If the language seems off or the graphics look unprofessional, it might be a scam. Phising is one of the most common internet scams, learn how to avoid phishing in Instagram giveaways.
Unfortunately, Instagram has more than just eye-catching pictures and entertaining videos. In fact, cybercriminals are instead using the app to trick people online, using different types of scams. Through their innovative Provably Fair Algorithm, Giveaway.com eliminates any possibility of manipulation or bias in the giveaway results. Using blockchain technology, the prize draw is designed to be transparent, verifiable, and free from tampering.
