SAN ANGELO, Texas — Recently, there have been a lot of questionable Facebook events and giveaways, sometimes too good to be true.
A Facebook post about a diaper giveaway event has been catching the attention of many users. The same post has been shared on many local Facebook groups promoting the event, but not revealing an exact location. However, many users claim it is a scam since the post includes a link where users are asked to include personal information.
“When we conducted some research regarding the post we learned that not only through the post itself as far as people were commenting it was a scam but they had an external link that you could click. Apparently, they were asking for personal information, at which point once you disclose that information they gave you a voucher for those wipes or diapers and it wasn't legitimate,” San Angelo Police Department Public Information Officer, Richard Espinoza, said
Espinoza said it’s best to analyze the post before you provide any personal information.
“One of the main things you want to do is pay attention to the actual post itself. Is it a scam giveaway? Any form of contest? Surveys? Anything where they might be trying to draw in personal information,” Espinoza said.
Angelo State Police Department Det. Senior Sgt. Orlando Villareal said it’s important to verify the credibility of the information before you share it on your social media page.
“Verify the information, just be aware of the different scams that are out there they always change so you always want to verify the event or the information before you start posting it or spreading it to other people,” Villarreal said.
Villareal suggests reaching out to companies directly if you have any doubt of the credibility of events or giveaways.