E-bike fake competitions: A vicious circle of deception and naivety
For years, Facebook users have been lured into a trap with so-called “fake e-bike competitions”. Strangers publish tempting competitions on Facebook that at first glance look like real bargains. But thousands of users fall into the same trap again and again.
According to the operators of the fake sites, e-bikes are often given away. The reason for this apparent generosity: “As these e-bikes have scratches and minor damage, they cannot be sold”. The images of the e-bikes often come from other websites and were stolen to make the competitions appear more credible.

A simple comment, high price
Participating in these competitions is very easy: just leave a comment. Most of the time a simple “thank you” is enough. It's hardly surprising that thousands of users take part in these promotions because it's made easy for them to participate.
But users are blinded and often don't know who is behind the competition. They do not check whether there are conditions of participation, a contact option or an imprint.
What happens after the comment?
In most cases, anyone who comments will receive a message with a link to a competition form or the site operator will respond directly in the comments and refer to the form. Here the user has to enter personal data, which is then usually sold to address dealers.

These dealers then have enough information to bombard participants with advertising spam by mail, email or telephone. This is the harmless version. However, it can also happen that this data is misused for identity theft.

Who is behind it?
Who exactly is behind these pages is unclear. These are often direct marketing companies that specialize in collecting addresses and then selling them to other companies.
Unfortunately, Facebook itself does little to combat such fake competitions. It is up to every Facebook user not to fall for such traps.
How do you avoid such traps?
- Check the organizer :
Take a close look at who is running the competition. Is there an imprint, contact options and conditions of participation? - Be critical :
If the offer sounds too good to be true, it probably is. - Protect your personal information :
Do not give out your information carelessly. Always consider what could happen to this data. - Report suspicious pages :
If you spot a fake page, report it to Facebook. The more users report a page, the faster it will be checked and, if necessary, removed. - Use image search :
If you find the images on the site suspicious, use a reverse image search on the Internet to check if they have been stolen from other sites. - Stay informed :
Stay up to date on the latest social media scams and share this information with your friends and acquaintances. - Be skeptical of prize submission requests :
You will often be asked to pay shipping costs or enter personal information to receive the prize. Such requests should always be a red warning signal.
Fell into the trap?
If you have participated in such a competition and are now bombarded with promotional calls and promotional emails, you can take the following actions:
- Decline promotional calls :
Tell callers that you don't want any further calls and ask them to remove your number from their call list. - Block numbers :
Use your phone's features to block unwanted callers. - Enable spam filter :
Most email services have a spam filter. Make sure this is enabled and mark unwanted emails as spam to block future messages from these senders. - Unsubscribe from promotional emails :
Click on the unsubscribe link usually found at the bottom of promotional emails. If that doesn't work, you can contact the sender directly and request that your data be deleted. - Request data deletion :
Request that the company where you took part in the competition delete your data. You can also request that third parties to whom your data has been shared delete your data. - File a complaint :
If you continue to be harassed despite your best efforts, you can complain about the company to the relevant data protection authority. - Seek Legal Advice :
In persistent cases where your desire for privacy continues to be violated, you may wish to consult an attorney to consider legal action.
The most important thing is to learn from such experiences and be more careful about disclosing personal data in the future. Before taking part in a competition, you should always check the reliability of the provider and read the terms and conditions carefully.
Conclusion: The temptation of competitions on Facebook can be great, especially when participation seems so easy. However, it is important to be vigilant and follow the tips mentioned so as not to fall victim to such competitions. As with so many things in life, if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
In line with this topic:
- Guide to Facebook fake competitions: Recognize and combat – How to protect yourself and your friends
- Warning about Lego sets at 1.95 on Facebook
- Deutsche Bahn: No annual ticket for 1.95 euros!
- Warning about this “Lindt” fake competition on Facebook
- E-bikes and tiny houses are flooding Facebook
- Magenta: Fake competition for iPhone 14 Pro leads to subscription trap
- Fake: Kaufland-Germany pages on Facebook
- Kaufland: Fake competition via WhatsApp
- Now “Action” also warns against dubious competitions
- Subscription trap instead of a coffee machine competition in the name of MediaMarkt
- Dangers and backgrounds of fake competitions on Facebook!
Current fake competition warnings can be found HERE .
Visit us in our group on Facebook
If you enjoyed this post and value the importance of well-founded information, become part of the exclusive Mimikama Club! Support our work and help us promote awareness and combat misinformation. As a club member you receive:
📬 Special Weekly Newsletter: Get exclusive content straight to your inbox.
🎥 Exclusive video* “Fact Checker Basic Course”: Learn from Andre Wolf how to recognize and combat misinformation.
📅 Early access to in-depth articles and fact checks: always be one step ahead.
📄 Bonus articles, just for you: Discover content you won't find anywhere else.
📝 Participation in webinars and workshops : Join us live or watch the recordings.
✔️ Quality exchange: Discuss safely in our comment function without trolls and bots.
Join us and become part of a community that stands for truth and clarity. Together we can make the world a little better!
* In this special course, Andre Wolf will teach you how to recognize and effectively combat misinformation. After completing the video, you have the opportunity to join our research team and actively participate in the education - an opportunity that is exclusively reserved for our club members!
Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )

