Toyota Hilux club giveaway scam on Facebook: Know this

A viral post on Facebook says you could win a Toyota Hilux club by liking the Facebook page or posting and sharing it with friends.

This is a scam.

One post read; “We have 3 Toyota Hilux that we are not selling, we are doing something else instead. We want to give it away to someone who wrote “Done”.

Another post read; “We decided on our 54th anniversary to giveaway six new Toyota Hilux 2022. Comment your favorite color. Sample “Red” before DECEMBER 03! Hopefully useful for you and your family.”

This is not the first time

In December 2014, many Facebook pages associated with car brands such as Audi, Range Rover, Mercedes, and Camaro (among others) posted messages about car giveaways.

According to the pages, Facebook was giving away cars. Audi R8s, Range Rovers, Mercedes-Benz E63 AMGs, and Chevrolet Camaro SS models were among the vehicles available in the giveaways.

Almost all of the scams followed the same pattern: users were instructed to like a separate page, like the original post, and share the post on their own Timeline (thereby validating its legitimacy and enticing others to do the same).

In May, Snopes also fact-checked a Toyota 4Runner ‘Anniversary Giveaway’ that was viral on Facebook. The post told users that they would be entered to win by commenting “Done.”

In an email to Snopes, a Toyota spokesperson confirmed that the post was a scam and that the auto manufacturer had since asked Facebook to remove it. However, the post was still active with more than 1.3 million comments and over 11,000 shares.

And the Facebook page, which has over 48,000 followers, does not appear to claim any affiliation with Toyota and describes itself as “for Toyota fans.”

Conclusion

The Toyota Hilux club giveaway is a scam.

Users who participate in such bogus giveaways not only unwittingly assist spammers in polluting the social network with scams, but they also risk being exposed to malware, clickjacking, or other nefarious activities (such as finding their names and identities endorsing a scam, hate page, or other undesirable activity).

Giveaways, especially of high-value merchandise, are uncommon and almost always conducted through the official channels of brands or the social media accounts of related large companies.