Mini Cooper Countryman Giveaway on Facebook is a Scam

The Facebook Page is fraudulent and it is not giving away a Mini Cooper. It is a scam designed to rapidly accumulate large numbers of Facebook Page likes. Pages with high numbers of likes can later be used to perpetrate further scams, this time to a much larger audience. Or, they can be sold on the black market to other scammers.

According to a Facebook Page that calls itself ‘Mini Club’, you can get a chance to win a 2016 Mini Cooper Countryman just by liking the page, sharing a promotional post, and adding a comment specifying which colour car you would like should you win. The promotional post features an image depicting a Mini Cooper decked out with a red ribbon.

However, the Facebook Page is fraudulent and those who participate have no chance whatsoever of winning the promised Mini Cooper. The prize does not exist and there are no winners. The image of the ribboned ‘prize’ car has appeared in other contexts on a number of other websites and has been online for several years.

The entire purpose of the bogus giveaway is to quickly gather large numbers of likes for the ‘Mini Club’ Facebook Page. By instructing people to like the Page as well as share and comment on the promotional post, the perpetrators know that they can collect very large numbers of Page likes in just a few days.

Later, when the Facebook Page has enjoyed a substantial increase in Page likes, its operators can use it to launch survey scams, or other types of fraud, this time to a much larger pool of potential victims. Or, the scammers may choose to sell the Page to other scammers via a thriving black market. The more likes a Facebook Page has, the more money it will likely sell for.

Like-farming scams like this are very common. Be wary of any Facebook Page or post that claims that you can win valuable prizes such as cars, airline tickets, holidays, or tech gear just by liking, sharing, and commenting.