Oh, a lot of people do that...

“Due to an error in our editorial team, we are forced to restart this competition, so we are now giving away TWO mobile homes as an apology.” Such a nonsensical sentence should make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, right? Unfortunately, that's not the case, on the contrary: this competition (according to its own information) has around 10 participants per minute. It's fascinating, you can watch how the group of participants grows and grows every minute.

The conditions of participation on the Facebook page “Family Experiences” are classically amusing, and the argument “due to a mistake we double the profit” is really cool:

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The conditions of participation in plain text:

Due to an error in our editorial team, we are forced to restart this competition, so we are now giving away TWO mobile homes as an apology.
Simply share this post, comment with “Eigenheim” and write us a message with “participate” if you are interested. The giveaway ends in 48 hours! We will notify the winners: Like our page, Family Experiences, to receive further updates.

You would like to shout it out to everyone, so to speak, to shake them awake: Hey, dear friends, what are you doing? Why do you think you will win a house here?

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Fake competitions can be recognized quite easily:

A look at the organizer is enough. Reputable competition organizers the following features :

  • Site owner/contact person
  • imprint
  • Contact option
  • Conditions of Participation

There is no information on these points on the site mentioned.

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Our checklist for recognizing dubious competitions on Facebook:

  • Users are forced to “like” and “share”.
  • There is no (credible) imprint,
  • no conditions of participation,
  • no contact option.
  • No correct company available.
  • Page has only existed for a very short time.
  • No winners will be announced.
  • Prizes are provided by sponsors who “do not wish to be named.”
  • The prizes are advertised with copied images from the Internet.
  • For well-known companies, look for the blue verification check mark that is often present behind the page name in the cover image.

What else can happen

Note: Why is/was there this competition? Of course there is a financial interest behind these sites. There are various ways in which you can profit from successful fake competitions. Everything is possible, from harmless page sales to nasty subscription traps. So far, we have seen a lot of fake competitions that these types of competitions are always very similar. In the first stage, they seduce with their simple participation. You should share and like a high-quality potential win. Anyone can do it, it's not a hurdle. This attracts people.

Possibility of “side sales” / “like farming”

With the help of these attracting events the site is then “bred”. The site operator is working to increase fan numbers. At a certain point, this site will be for sale. Fans just end up wondering what content they'll see after the sale and why they ever liked that page.

“Affiliate” option

Once the number of participants reaches a certain point, the description of the competition will be changed. The conditions of participation are supplemented and a link is usually included that you should visit. There are some affiliate programs waiting there through which the “organizer” collects commissions. In the harmless case, these are partner programs that provide participants with a lot of advertising; in the extreme case, there is a WAP billing subscription trap hidden behind the link for visitors via smartphone (from which the organizer of course also collects commission). Every now and then you can find these sophisticated Facebook pages for sale on eBay.

No matter what else happens: the advertised profit doesn't exist! Therefore, remember: There is no one giving away this house, this mobile home, this Audi, 100,000 iPhones or 50,000 PS4s. No, they don't exist, these chivalrous benefactors of the Internet. They are more like tricksters who entice their users to eat out of their hands like click animals.

So what – a click like that doesn’t cost anything!

Yes, that's right. A click on tempting competition sites usually doesn't cost you anything (as long as it's not a subscription trap behind it). If you define “it costs nothing” purely in terms of material values, then it will probably be that way.

But something can cost more than just money, because what it costs you here is priceless: it costs you your dignity - it costs you your credibility.

It costs you your name when you take part in sleazy competitions that you know deep down are rubbish, but your desire is so great that you end up clicking.

It is your inner compulsion to which you succumb and all people can see your defeat - they can all see that you have given in to the hollow temptation. And it would be easy for us to publicly pillory you here. Everyone would see your avatar and your name, because you have immortalized yourself there and shown that you have dedicated yourself to the site.

You tell everyone your financial situation, you tell us your life plans, you even tell us your favorite color and your date of birth. And for what? For a small, measly hope of winning something without making a big investment, for a bit of excitement “on the Internet”? For your trust in some unknown people behind the scenes who don't actually want to give you anything?

 

No, clicking here will not cost you any money. But if you ask yourself in the future why some people no longer take you so seriously, then you may have paid dearly.


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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 )