Update 8-5-10: You may have received this latest version of the Facebook gift card scam. My spam increased exponentially when I entered one of these at the pressure of one of my kids. Against my better judgement. Here's what today's variety looked like in my Facebook Event Invitation section:

Update 3-29-10: The newest TARGET Facebook scam page is up. Please visit this page, and report it as abusive on the bottom left of the page. Only through action can we show both Facebook and these scam artists that this type of trash won't work. Funny they didn't even get the TARGET logo in the proper size to fit in the avatar space. (First 20,000 Fans Get A $500 Target Gift Card SCAM  LINK << Do not JOIN or FAN this page.)

Update 3-25-10: The two pages (TARGET SCAM page on Facebook &  BEST BUY SCAM page on Facebook) initially listed at the end of this article have been removed. Victory! Let me know if you see new scams. Thanks Facebook for at least stepping up to the plate.

Update 3-15-10: Scam of the moment Lowe's, Toys R Us, and Victoria's Secret. This company just keeps going and going. I didn't get a chance to ask the Facebook people at SXSW why they still allow this kind of company to operate on their site.

Update 3-9-10: Avatar and the iPod touch are also part of this scam company's ploy.

Here's the FB AD, that I only clicked because my son wanted to see what it did.

And of course when you click on it you get a new scam page. This one focused on the upcoming iPad release. Sure looks a lot like the BEST BUY and TARGET ads.

+++

These days in the world of quick and disposable social media campaigns, every business has to have a Facebook campaign. And by gosh, they are so easy to start, why wouldn't every business have one?

But what if your BRAND had a Facebook page and didn't even know it? Can Facebook be used to HiJack a national brand? Let's look at the elements of the BEST BUY contest that popped up in my inbox today. (Here's the culprit: superb-rewards.net < top scam artist.)

ONE: The call to action.

So, where it might look like you are becoming a fan of BEST BUY, me thinks you are becoming a fan of:  First 20,000 Fans Get a $1,000 Best Buy Gift Card!!! (I wonder if they've done one with single and double exclamation points? This is like v.3)

Now featuring 20,000 Fans Get a $500 Target Card!!!

TWO: So let's see what the INFO tab says.

Uh oh.

Well the comments appear to be open.

At this point you might even be able to guess what's on the TARGET page.

THREE: Let's do it again.

And can you believe that Josh Winslet got his card from TARGET already too. And again Ashley, Sarah, and Allie are on board.

So that's the problem with the Facebook FAN Page system. Anyone can build one. You don't need any approvals or authority to put it up on "behalf of" or in the case "masqurading as" a large corporate entity.

Does Best Buy suffer from this kind of brand hijack? Do I trust Best Buy less as a result of the scam?

What about Facebook? Does Zuckerberg and Co. bear any responsibility for this kind of damage? Does the #1 innovative company for 2010, according to FastCompany, have any control over who does this kind of trash?

My guess is 1. they have no legal liability; 2. a page is a page and a visit is another pair of eyeballs; 3. Facebook can't possibly police every page or image pushed up to Facebook.

What's next?

@jmacofearth
permalink: http://bit.ly/FB-Brand

• TARGET SCAM page on Facebook: Please Report this page. (first 20,000 fans get a $500 target) PAGE REMOVED!
• BEST BUY SCAM page on Facebook: Please Report this page. (first 20,000 fans get a $1,000 best buy) PAGE REMOVED!
• REPORT this company: superb-rewards.net (but please don't enter any of their contests/rewards programs)
• Mary Roach has written a thoughtful post about the scams: Old Dog, New Tricks: Gift Card Scams in Social Networks

@jmacofearth (also seen on Google+: jmacofearth)

Check out the Social Media for Business page and these other posts about learning social media:

• Do You Play On Social Media Sites? Are You a Playa? Are You "Workin" It All the Time?
• Why Google+ Is Not Competing Against Facebook; The Google+ Platform Play
• Losing My Way on Dell.com < How the Retailer Still Confuses and Coupons Us To Death
• Crack the Motivational Code: Put a Ding In Our Universe and Your Team's Universe
• Work Life Balance and Survival; It's Up to You to Grab It
• Facebook's Community Value is 5% of 5% or 0.25% < A Failure to Communicate
• SEO: You Have to Know Your Search Engine to Understand How to Optimize – Content Marketing
• Going for the One on Google Search is Just a "Phrase Match" Away (Own It!)
• How to Get Useful Business Information Out of Twitter: Hashtags for Social Media Research

It's been a great year. Thanks for being part of it. See the 2011 Summary and Best of 2012!

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