Outline
Facebook Page billing itself as the “Freedom Award Lottery Promotion Agency Company” acts as a contact point for people who have been notified that they have won a large sum of money in the “Facebook Freedom Lottery”. During the course of the scam, victims may be tricked into giving their Facebook password to criminals.
Brief Analysis
The Facebook Page is part of an advance fee lottery scam. There are no prizes and the lottery is not legitimate. It attempts to trick people into sending money and personal information to criminals. The Facebook Page is designed to make the claims in the fake winning notification messages seem more legitimate.
Example
All participants were selected through a computer ballot system drawn from all areas clearing house computers games from database from Australia,America Samoa,Apia Samoa,New Zealand,United State of America,Cook Island,United Kingdom,south africa and Canada. This is our international promotion program which was conducted recently for all Facebook users.
Detailed Analysis
A bogus Facebook Page that calls itself the “Freedom Award Lottery Promotion Agency Company” is part of a scheme designed to trick Facebook users into sending their money and personal details to cybercriminals.
The Page is used as a promotional vehicle for the “Facebook Freedom Lottery” advance fee scam. It also acts as a connection point for people who have been tricked into believing that they have won this lottery. The Page is designed to make potential victims more likely to believe the bogus “lottery win” claims made by the scammers.
As “evidence”, the Page features images supposedly depicting previous winners of the lottery. In reality, these pictures have been stolen from various other sources and have no connection whatsoever to the bogus “Facebook Freedom Lottery”.
They will also “seed” the page with fake posts from people who claim to have won the lottery and already had their money delivered.
Here’s how the scam works.
Users receive a Facebook message that claims that they have won a large lottery prize. Often, the message appears to have come from one of their Facebook friends and will claim that their name has been spotted on a list of lottery winners. The users are instructed to make contact via Facebook to begin the process of claiming their prize. If they comply, victims will then receive a follow-up message with further instructions. Here is an example of such a scam message:
Freedom Award Lottery Promotion Agency Company Thanks for getting in torch with us right here, yes this is for real and your name has been selected among the lucky winners. Click on this link now to add him[Link Removed] Add him so that he can tell you what to do and how to get it Okay
The scam message may also contain a link to the bogus Facebook Page, which winners are advised to visit. For some users, the existence of the Facebook Page may seem to legitimize the lottery win claims. After seeing the Page, these users may be more likely to follow through and be drawn deeper into the scam.
Next, victims will begin receiving demands for money from the scammers. The scammers will claim that “winners” must pay these fees in advance or their prize will not be released:
You have to pay for Tax fee and the shipping fund, so we can bring the money to your door step.. You pay $380.00 and get $40,000,00.You pay $975.00 and get $90,000,00.You pay $1,350.00 and get $150,000,00.You pay $3,700.00 and get$200,000,00 Your money will get deliver to you in the next 24hours when you make the payment … Reply to the both email for quick respond from us…
Victims may also be asked to provide their Facebook account password, ostensibly so that their claim can be validated:
Be sure cuz United State Government is aware and monitor all lucky winners of all processing and proper documentation must be done, password is to make sure that you are original owner of Facebook account and your delivery is safe. So that your money will get deliver to you at your doorstep once the address is real okay. Your winning is safe till you ready to pay your delivery fees.
The criminals will keep all of the money they have been sent, leaving their victims waiting in vain for their promised payout, which of course, never existed and will never arrive.
The criminals can also use the stolen passwords to hijack the Facebook accounts belonging to their victims. Once they have gained access to these accounts, the scammers can use them to send out more “lottery win” messages to the friends of the victims.
And so, the scam cycle starts all over again.
Be wary of any message that claims that you have won a large prize in a lottery that you have never entered. Even if the message appears to have been sent by one of your friends.
Advance fee lottery scams have been around for many years and continue to gain new victims all around the world every day. And social media websites are offering new ways for criminals to connect with potential victims.
Original Source : https://www.hoax-slayer.net/freedom-award-lottery-promotion-agency-facebook-page-scam/