Europa Park is NOT giving away free tickets for 300 families!

 

Note: Europa Park has no connection to this competition!

The inquiries about the Europa-Park competition never end . This fake is still being shared:

Currently in circulation: Fake competition that offers free tickets to Europa Park. / Screenshot by mimikama.org
Currently in circulation: Fake competition that offers free tickets to Europa Park. / Screenshot by mimikama.org

Four free tickets are promised for 300 families for the 42nd anniversary.

Even though Europa Park opened on July 12, 1975, this argument is only used as a lure to trap users.

If you follow the link, a website opens that presents itself as a kind of quiz. Even though this website uses the Europa Park logo, it is not part of the theme park's official website.

It doesn't matter which answers you choose, a winning confirmation always appears at the end. And this is exactly where the rub lies: This promise of winning forms the bridge to the actual goal, which has absolutely nothing to do with winning free tickets.

If you click on the competition, you will be taken to a fake Europa Park page. / Screenshot by mimikama.org
If you click on the competition, you will be taken to a fake Europa Park page. / Screenshot by mimikama.org

In order for the fraudsters to reach as many potential click victims as possible, you should share the fake competition on Facebook. This is how the requested status posts are created on Facebook. This step is not optional.

If you finally follow step 2 and click on the like button, you will be redirected to a so-called affiliate page.

This affiliate itself is of course not illegal, but it is not related to the previously promised profit or, at this point, to Europa Park. Rather, it is a commission program and anyone who has integrated the link into their website and forwards you to this competition receives a commission.

This is also the reason why such fake competitions are constructed: the aim is to display advertising or to incorporate advertising links in a credible and effective way. The author of the fake competition simply doesn't care whether their own content is correct.

Fake competitions

This type of fake competition can be found in large numbers on Facebook or WhatsApp. They are knitted according to this pattern:

1. The bait

This bait usually appears in the form of a status message on Facebook, a WhatsApp message or, in rare cases, an Instagram message. These baits are all identical in nature: they give the illusion of a win that you actually already have in your pocket. They entice you with the ease of participation and direct you to a website. This is the bait . The bait is the viral entry into the competition process.

2. Pretext quiz round

Step two is usually a website that pretends to be a competition with a question and answer session. This round of questions is not necessarily always present, as it is irrelevant and is only intended to simulate a competition. We also call this step two the bridge .

The bridge appears in the form of a fake competition. In this bridge, you are usually promised the prize directly, there is deception and fake elements are used. Ultimately, this bridge is also an illegal component because the promises made are not kept and the structure and presentation uses protected graphic elements. The corporate design of existing companies and their products are mercilessly exploited; on the bridge people also like to pretend to be the company depicted. Goal of the bridge:

a) Generate virality (example: forward this competition to 20 contacts!)
b) A link is installed that should lead to the supposed prize.

3. The affiliate program

The third and final step is a so-called affiliate program. You leave the bridge via a link that contains an affiliate code that belongs to a commission program. This is an affiliate whose content, if possible, correlates with the fake competition taking place in the bridge. We call this final link the exit. Note: The exit itself, i.e. the affiliates that are linked to, is not illegal!

These are business models in which the respective provider of such programs compensates their sales partners through commissions. These sales partners are recognized by the provider through an identification code, so that every newly registered participant in the affiliate competition can also be assigned to the sales partner. By the way, the person who designs the bridge freely decides which partner program he uses as an exit. We also often find systems that read the participant's origin and device information and thus direct them specifically to different commission programs.

Therefore, you can never say clearly which commission program will ultimately be used; in the worst case, you will end up with dubious WAP billing stories or opaque subscription services.

This is how fake competitions are structured. / Graphics by mimikama.org
This is how fake competitions are structured. / Graphics by mimikama.org

Result:

There are no Europa Park free tickets to be won. Users are being misled!


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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 )