iPhone X Giveaways: Fraud or Perhaps Not?

[.:Aleph:.]

In the last couple of weeks, I’ve stumbled upon several iPhone X giveaways on various Web sites.

Some seemed legit, and some didn’t.

I’m not sure if I’m allowed to post the links here, but I can try. If they get removed, it won’t matter.

For example, this one seems fishy:

https://www.republiclab.com/iphone-x-giveaway/

It ran last month, too, and when the countdown ended, it just got reset. Nowhere was the winner announced, the link remained the same, the page still kept saying “134 left” (whatever that refers to), and the comments below remained from the last giveaway (or, perhaps, “giveaway”).

Then there’s High Snobiety iPhone X and Moment lens giveaway:

https://www.highsnobiety.com/p/iphone-x-giveaway/

which has no info on when does it end nor when and where the winner will be announced.

The CNET giveaway ended

https://www.cnet.com/news/x-giveaway-can-land-you-that-new-phone/

but no winner was announced on their Twitter feed or anywhere else, as far as I can see.

There’s also Hypebeast:

https://hypebeast.com/2017/12/advent-calendar-giveaway

Caseology used to have a link to their giveaway that ended a few days after it ended. That one used Gleam. The winner announcement was a bit late, perhaps because the giveaway ended on a weekend, I think, but it seemed it was legit.

Basically, a ton of them.

A few weeks ago, several Web sites and newspapers reported on the ZeroFox blog post on this:

https://www.theverge.com/2017/10/11/16458646/free-iphone-8-scam-facebook-google-youtube
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencet...are-Scams-promising-free-iPhone-handsets.html

but some of these I mentioned don’t look as shady as the ones The Daily Mail took screenshots of. Furthermore, the accounts these giveaways are on I mentioned have the blue tick, if that has any relevance at all, yet the strategy seems to be that of “fame farming” described in the ZeroFox report.

Has anyone here had any experienced with this? Or perhaps do you have any thoughts about whether all these are just simple fraud?

 

[Givmeabrek]

Wow those links are nasty. I've never seen so many ads, popups, and nonsense. Save your money and buy your own...

 

[noobinator]

They are probably legit but you are selling out your info for a minuscule chance at winning.

 

[joeblow7777]

A lot of the high profile tech Youtubers regularly do giveaways of flagship phones. Usually all you have to do to enter is subscribe to their channel, follow them on social media, and comment on their video. The reputable ones don't take any personal info except a means of contacting you if you win.

 

[44267547]

In the world of digital media, you need to be careful what you click on today. There are so many different types of sites that are malicious and will entice you to click on something that's not what it seems. Contrary to even if it seems legitimate, if it's too good to true, it probably isn't.

 

[mantosh]

As a newbie, I have seen people are falling for these types of giveaway and they findout its fraud. nothing just emailbait
[doublepost=1530614958][/doublepost]is there any way to make people aware ?

I was just trying to search regarding those ****** links and found macrumors already posted threat on this.

someone should mention all the hidden links and ask google to delete them from the google itself.

 

[Newtons Apple]

Sorry but after reading the other responses, not clinking on your sites.

There is nothing you can do to stop people from falling from this cr^p. We still get calls for our copy machine model number at our office so there are lots of gullible people out there.

I suggest the OP have the best of virus protection if he visits sites like this.