How to spot a legitimate Facebook competition
In the 21st century the world of competitions and online competitions has grown to be absolutely huge, and at Winzum we are excited to be a part of it. With the amount of Facebook competitions, Instagram competitions, radio competitions, ITV competitions and more available, it has genuinely never been a better time to be involved with competitions in general.
By and large this is nothing but a good thing, however one thing that we are especially keen to stamp out is the presence of fake Facebook competitions that are actually just data farming fronts [data farming dark underbelly fb comp].
Your personal data has never been so valuable, and for this reason there are many people trying to illegitimately gather your details through online competitions purely so they can sell your data on. It doesn’t have to be scary though, just learn how to spot a legitimate Facebook competition and you’ll be right as rain!
Look for the full T&Cs
One immediate red flag on the topic of Facebook competitions is if there are no terms and conditions to be seen anywhere on the competition post, as this immediately implies that something isn’t quite right.
Terms and conditions are designed to protect both the competition entrant and online competition provider – they are essential to keeping things legitimate and within the law. So, if you cannot find any T&Cs attached to a specific Facebook competition we would recommend steering clear.
Fact-check the prize – is it possible?
As you might have seen in our Things to Avoid In Facebook Competitions article [Things to Avoid In Facebook Competitions], an incredibly easy way to tell whether a Facebook competition is legitimate or not is simply down to the prize that is being offered.
Facebook competitions can come with pretty nice prizes, don’t get us wrong, however you need to be sensible here. There are so many mysteriously “unclaimed” prizes that are too good to be true; you just need to be aware.
Research the page running the Facebook competition
Another prime way to spot whether a Facebook competition is legitimate or not is by doing a little bit of background research on the page in question. All too often we see fake Facebook competitions that are run by a Facebook page with only a few “likes”, and what’s more the logo of the genuine company they’re trying to rip off is all wrong too.
A little bit of research can go a long way here, and it will make all the difference in regard to keeping your personal details safe.
Be aware of fake profile interactions
It can be tempting to think that a Facebook competition is legitimate because it has had so much user interaction and comments, however you have to be aware of fake profile interactions.
That’s right; there are plenty of fake Facebook profiles flying about these days, and nasty fake Facebook competition platforms often use these to make themselves appear more legitimate. Watch out!