Vernon Ribfest was just hoping to drum up interest in their event with a social media giveaway, but ended up having to warn followers about an apparent scam attempt.
It’s just one example of a type of fraud that the Better Business Bureau says is becoming increasingly common.
For Ribfest, the problem started shortly after it set up a social media contest giving away free ribs.
Someone set up at least one fake account impersonating Ribfest, and falsely telling people they’d won.
“They are asking for their credit card information, they are asking for personal identification information, which is something that Ribfest would never do,” said Elaine Gallacher, president of the Vernon Ribfest Society.
“I am sure that what they are interested in is scamming money if they are able to do that from people.”
Gallacher described the situation as “really frustrating.”
Ribfest ended up putting out warnings, but the event is not alone.
The Better Business Bureau branch serving Mainland B.C. says these types of contest scams have become increasingly common and educational institutions, hospitality brands, and influencers have reported similar issues.
“A lot of the scams that used to happen in this way of impersonating were sweepstakes style or they were coming through the mail so that was a different thing, it was a slower burn,” said communications director Neesha Hothi.
“Now because it is so easy to do, it is happening everywhere and it’s happening all the time so definitely I think it is increasing.”
The Better Business Bureau says taking a look at the account itself can provide clues as to whether it’s legitimate. For instance, a fake Vernon Ribfest account Global News viewed had only been set up in recent days, which Hothi points out is a red flag.
Other signs it may not be a legitimate contest are if the account is only promoting the contest and nothing else, Hothi said, or if the name on the account is spelled just slightly differently than the real brand.
“Or if they’ve said, ‘Oh we’ve created this account for a giveaway.’ Nobody does that. If a brand is doing a giveaway or a contest, they are also hoping that you are going to look at their brand,” said Hothi.
Facebook took down a fake Vernon Ribfest account after it was flagged by Global News and says it works constantly to block harmful activity, but Gallacher would like to see social media sites do more to flag accounts impersonating others or using another account’s name and logo.
“I’m really hoping that Facebook will be on top of that and really look at making a difference so we can continue to use those awesome social media opportunities,” Gallacher said.
If you are interested in ribs, the event is still going ahead with its giveaway but is reminding people no winner will be announced till July 2.