A new trend has started on Facebook, where people set up Fan Pages and promote a message that promised some kind of free item; such as an Ipad or a Macbook. This trend seem to have a lot in common with the recent trend where people created Groups with names like “join and you while be able to see who visited your profile.” This issue seems to be going away and now the fan pages is the new problem.
The big difference between the previous group trend and this one with pages is that there is no obvious “gain” from these pages. Since pages cannot be tracked back to a specific user there is not gain for people to use pages to promote their personal FB-accounts, which was one of the reasons for the previous boom of fake groups. Another problem, with the groups was that the administrators changed name to the groups when they reached a certain amount of visitors. To for example “we are pedophiles.” Damaging the reputation of individuals as many of them don’t receive notifications when groups that they are in change names, and thus, do not realize what groups they were members of. But there has not been any inclines that these is the purpose of the Fan Pages either.
So what is the real problem with these Pages? Is there even a problem? Are the creator breaking against any policies? Who is gaining from these pages?
Groups such as “iPad Research Program – Test It and Keep It!” and “We’re Giving Away Laptops” get tens of thousands of fan and as far as I can understand they are not breaking against any of Facebook’s Privacy Policies, and thus get to stay.
If you access the page “We’re Giving Away Laptops” you can see that it is connected to a website called chooseyourcolor.com. The Fan Page also clearly states that they have no connection to Apple INC, thought they claim to be offering MacBooks to their Fans. Therefore I took a closer look at the site chooseyourcolor.com and realized that the website also gives away laptops, IF you apply for a credit card or a loan and also be accepted before you get your “reward.”
chooseyourcolor.com: “Completion of reward offers most often requires a purchase or filing a credit application and being accepted for a financial product such as a credit card or consumer loan.”
To check this group out I decided to become a Fan to see as they say that you have to become a fan “before the next step is revealed.” Then they say that inviting your friends is the next step and after that you should press a third link to “Finalize the Registration.” In the case of some applications on Facebook you have to invite a few of your friends to see the result of the test that you have taken, but as this is not the case with pages I just pressed step three to see where it took me. The result “Free Lotto,” which if you Google it seems to be a huge scam.
Thus, whether this page is in fact connected to the page chooseyourcolor.com or not, I have not been able to figure out. But according to other sources you are recommended to NOT finalize the step three in the group “We´re giving away laptops.”
So what is the conclusion? Stay away from groups that seem to be recently started and don’t have a connection to a well established company. Whether these groups are breaking against the Facebook policies I’m yet to figure out, but if they are, I truly recommend Facebook to create an “verified account” system such as the one Twitter have to protect their users. Because if we are to believe what they said in the blog post which announced their new partnership with McAfee, user security is one of their Goals!
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I work as a web development manager at a swedish telecom carrier. I write about tips, tools and examples for better web experiences. 
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