Claim: BMW is giving away free cars on Facebook.
Examples:
[Collected via e-mail, November 2014]
"BMW ///M POWER's photos are being advertised on Facebook as a giveaway, but never seem to see any winners posted. Is it a fake or for real."
Origins: In November 2014, a scam promising a free BMW 435i started circulating on Facebook.
The fraudulent offer was first posted to the BMW ///M Power Facebook Page (no affiliation to the car company) on
This is a common strategy used in social media scams. Recent offers for fake Costco, Kroger and Amazon gift cards all employed similar tactics in order to spread their message quickly across the internet.
The free BMW giveaway post was shared by more than a half million people in just a few days. In fact, it became so popular that BMW (the real BMW) stepped in to tell its customers it was fake:
Last updated: 17 November 2014
