Just like farming

Imagine my disappointment to wake up to find I had not won a free car, after sharing a Facebook post which told me that the original winner of said automobile was only 16 years of age and had breached the rules of the competition. All I had to do was share the Facebook page and the car could be mine. I’m just kidding: I didn’t share it at all. It was yet another example of ‘like farming’ by unscrupulous people. This is how it works.

You’ve probably all seen these scams before. Win a free motorhome, win a free holiday, win a weekend at Center Parcs, win a free anything you want. All you need to do is ‘share this post’ and you are in with a chance. Except that you are in with no chance whatsoever because the ‘prize’ does not exist. All you are doing by sharing this nonsense is inviting people, who like you, should know better, to help increase the value of a Facebook page for someone who is trying it on. This is one of the problems with the internet, If something is on there, it must be true and it must be real.

I treat all these things as if they were a UXB. Whether it’s the false promise of a free lunch or someone peddling nonsense, like inspirational speaking or the spirit world. It’s either someone trying to scam you or fool you. Or both.

You will read plenty of this stuff on the web in the coming election campaign, especially from the Conservative Party who are spending many millions of pounds of public money on, well, trying to elect the Conservative Party. As the leader of the Tory party is Boris Johnson, you will know that nothing he says is likely to be true. But it’s more than that. Do you really want to expose family and friends to things that are not true?

For instance, if you are inclined to believe a wholly untrue Facebook story about a free car when no such thing exists, then what else will you believe? That Unicorns exist? That homeopathy is real? That the conduct of the Brexit referendum was fair and legitimate? The scammers will be thrilled if you believe that lot. Would you like a million pounds, too? I know a very nice man in Nigeria who sends people emails to that effect. Just send him your banking details and wait for the money. To disappear.

If scamming didn’t work, there would be no scammers. But there are. Just remember the next exciting freebie you share could be the one that pillages your bank account or that of someone you love. Just say no.