Testament to people's gullibility on social media--"Likefarming" is still alive and well in 2018
"Likefarming" is the practice, usually over Facebook, where a fake page will be set up in order to attract "likes" and "follows" of the page from unsuspecting users. After collecting enough followers, the page creators will either change the purpose of the page (usually to push products or propaganda) or some might even attempt to hack or exploit their followers' personal information.
Sometimes they'll use people's sympathies as a way to get likes--they'll post a picture of a sick child and tell users to "like" the page to know they are thinking about them. Other times they'll exploit users' religious or patriotic beliefs ("Like this page if you love the American Flag", "God is great, If you agree, like and type 'Amen'" )
More often you'll see likefarming by attempting to attract users by the guise of a fake page for a real product offering a "contest": "Like and share and win X!" The most common variation I've seen is for Disney World, where the users are told that if they like and share the page, they are automatically entered into a contest for free Disney World vacation and several thousands of dollars of spending cash. Of course, if you look carefully at the page, the name of the supposed company might be misspelled or improperly hyphenated or punctuated to differentiate it from the company's official page, and there will usually be no other content on the page than the sham "contest" itself.
Despite this, typical lifefarming scams will often attract hundreds or even thousands of followers, all seeking to win a "contest" that doesn't actually exist. The comment sections will be littered with dozens of "Pick me!" comments, or appeals to sympathy ("I always wanted a vacation but couldn't afford it", "My daughter has cancer and I would love to take her to Disney." )
After a while, Facebook usually steps in and shuts down the page. But that doesn't stop these scams from being repeated over and over and over again. And this all has been going on for years. People have put out PSAs that these fake contests are shams for years, and still there are thousands of gullible people out there who refuse to do any sort of due diligence and honestly believe that these "contests" are legitimate.
You would think that after all these years, in 2018, enough people would be wise to the fact that these are just scams.
This morning, I saw a "contest" for "South West Airlines" offering 7 round trip ticket packages. It was shared by a former family member who--no big surprise here--is a staunch Trump supporter. The post is less than a day old and currently has almost 1,000 likes. I've only see one comment amongst that 1,000 that has called it out as a fraud.
This is Social Media Gullibility 101--the utter failure to do any sort of due diligence research on suspicious claims. Too many people assume that whatever is on their Facebook or Twitter page has to be legitimate, and in all honesty, it's nothing but the Wild West out there. This is how Trump got elected.
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