These competitions are run by scammers, who create fake Facebook pages impersonating well-known brands.
'Winners' of the fake giveaways will often be asked to hand over personal data and payment details in order to receive their freebie. Fraudsters can then use these details to scam you.
The good news is that it's usually possible to avoid the fakes on Facebook with just a few simple checks. Read on to find out how.
We'd all love to live in a world where retailers suddenly give away hundreds of pricey laptops, vacuum cleaners or designer kettles for free.
But, sadly, if you see a competition or promotion on social media that seems too good to be true, it probably is.
Before entering any giveaways, consider whether the promotion is realistic. Retailers might give away one expensive item or a small number of them, for example, but they are not going to hand out masses of stock for nothing.
If it sounds unlikely, trust your instincts. It's probably fake.
Read more:2. Be wary of brand new profiles
A national retail chain, bank or major airline are all very unlikely to have registered their Facebook page within the last few hours or days.
Facebook became popular in the UK more than 15 years ago, and many well-established brands have been present on the site for a decade or more.
If you see what looks like a major brand page advertising a competition, make sure to check the age of the page to guage whether you're dealing with the genuine firm and not an impostor.
To find out the date a page was created, go to the page and click on the 'About' tab. On some devices you may then need to click on 'Page Transparency' to view the creation date.
Find out more:3. Can you see competition T&Cs?
Genuine competitions should have a set of terms and conditions either stated in the giveaway post itself or available via a link.
If a competition doesn't have either of these then there's a serious risk it's not genuine, and it's simply not worth the risk of handing over your personal data.
Read more:4. Watch out for unverified profiles
Facebook has a verification scheme for businesses, so they can prove they are who they say they are.
When you see a competition post, you can check if the host brand is verified by looking for a small blue tick next to the page name.
Many big name brands have opted in to this scheme, but not all have. So if there's no tick, look for the page creation date too.
5. Don't hand over any payment details
No genuine giveaway would ever require you to make a payment to release your prize or to cover postage costs.
Neither would a competition require you to provide your card details for 'verification purposes' or any other reason.
Make sure not to hand over any financial information if you are informed you're a 'winner'. For legitimate competitions, your prize should be provided for free.
Read more:undefinedundefinedsource https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/five-ways-to-spot-a-fake-freebie-on-facebook-aY9Hq2y4Fepf