by Tanya Dennis
Everybody loves free stuff! In fact, our agency recently held a promotion giving away three $100 Disney gift cards. 🙂 Be sure to visit our facebook page later today to congratulate the winners.
You’ll find no shortage of online “contests” promising you fantastic travel deals or free vacations … unfortunately, most aren’t real. In fact, many of them are phishing for your personal information and contacts, things that aren’t hard to get when you simply comment on facebook or other social media outlets.
Let’s take a look to see how you can spot the FAKES.
Spotting a FAKE Contest on Facebook
I want to show you a fake page and point out — literally with arrows! —Â a few things to look for before commenting or sharing that contest post or clicking on the links.
#1 : Is the name right?
Is the name is right? In this example (above), it should be “Disney Cruise Line” not just “Disney Cruise.” It’s not always easy to know a company’s exact name, so let’s keep looking.
#2 : Is there a period after the name?
Is there is a period after the name? This is a huge red flag for fake accounts. “Verified” accounts show a blue check mark after the name, not a period.
#3 : Are there misspellings?
Is anything misspelled? Not only must the name be right, it should be spelled correctly throughout the page. A legit offer will always spell the company name correctly. Check out the website in this example: realldisssney(dot)net? Nope. Not real.
#4 : Do the numbers add up?
Do the numbers add up and make sense? If the number of people who “like” the page is too low, it’s probably a fake. The real Disney Cruise Line page has well over 2 million followers. Actually, it has over 2 million who “like” the page and then another 2 million who “follow” the page.
Check out the numbers on the above example. Ouch! Does it seem reasonable that only 26 thousand people have heard of Disney cruises? Even if I weren’t the Disney fan that I am, I’d know that was fishy.
Let’s get REAL.
Now let’s look at the REAL Disney Cruise Line page.
- Is the name right? YES!
- Is the page verified? YES! See the blue check mark?
- Is everything spelled correctly? Is it professional? YES! No errors that I can see.
- Are the numbers believable? YES!
We’ve got a winner! 🙂 Booking with one of our trained, expert agents can ensure you avoid these dangers! We can help you plan a vacation that feels too good to be true, but is totally, completely real.
Contact one of our agents to request a FREE vacation consultation and quote.