The Hoax Facebook Group Template

A general article helping you work out which Facebook groups are genuine, which are dangerous, and which are simply wasting your time.

We all know that whatever is successful and popular online will always have people attempting to take advantage of that success for their own benefit, and Facebook is no exception.

This article delves slightly deeper into the typical Facebook group hoaxes that are prolific on the social networking site.

For those not in the know, Facebook groups are simply that – groups, which have their own set of dedicated pages where members can talk, and if they want, share certain pictures or links or videos or whatever. Groups are typically set around a certain subject so the members will have something specific to talk about, for example groups may be around an actor, a favourite pub, or a musical band.

Facebook also offer fan pages, which work in a similar way to groups, but offer slightly different features.

The person or persons who set up the group are know as the admin, and have slightly higher powers than ordinary members, in that they can close the group or email all of its members.

There is no limit to how many members can join a group, and this leads us to our first type of Facebook group hoax – the “lets see how many members we can get to join this group” hoax. This can be done honestly or dishonestly.

Honestly – it can simply claim to try and be the biggest group in Facebook history and urges all of its members to invite all of their friends. There isn’t really a point to it, but that hasn’t stopped many trying. Some groups do reach high numbers but most just fade out and are forgotten. There is little point being in a group so large and many people take advantage of being able to speak to so many people by posting advertisement or affiliate links [most of which are useless or scams] meaning that many of these groups don’t really offer anything truly useful. Some groups go a little further and claim that they will enter the Guinness Book of World Records if the reach certain numbers. These claims are all false, however.





Dishonest groups tempt their members into joining under different pretences. They will make up various reasons why Facebook members should join their group, but the reason will nearly always be fictitious yet imperative to its success it will always be designed to attract as many people as possible. One of the most common examples of this is the Facebook charging groups that purport that Facebook is starting to charge for their service, and others go further claiming that if a certain amount of members join, Facebook will drop the proposed charge. This is a good example because it highlights the fact that these group hoaxes are both deceitful and their subject will be something that many people will want to get involved with. After all, nobody wants to pay for Facebook. Similar groups are always popping up regarding popular Facebook applications, specifically Mafia Wars and FarmVille, often purporting to give members special bonuses for joining and getting others to join. Others simply claim to give away freebies for joining like T-Shirts or even Laptop computers!

All these group hoaxes will almost certainly share one common factor. They will strongly urge their members to invite everyone on their friend list. Some go further and claim that whatever special feature or bonus or prize they purport to be offering can only be achieved after the Facebook member gets at least a certain percentage of their own friends to join as well.

All this has led to what can only be described as some obscure competition to get as many people to join a Facebook group as possible. The idea of creating a hugely popular group seems to appeal to many people, regardless of the tactics used to achieve that.

Despite many of these groups serving as simple time wasting groups, there is a much more sinister side to all of this. The opportunity of being able to communicate with so many people at one time is appealing to online fraudsters trying to benefit financially through deception.

You know all that SPAM you get to your email address? That is because your email address is on a mailing list. Spammers and scammers will pay money to get mailing lists, but these large Facebook groups offer an instant mailing list – for free. All the fraudster needs to, is sign up for a fake Facebook account - something that is not hard to do, and then join one of these large groups and start posting their malicious links.

With so many people listening, it is not uncommon for fraudsters to post tempting yet dangerous links to external sites, hoping naïve members of that Facebook group will click on them. Additionally these fraudsters will set up their own Facebook groups, using dishonest tactics to get people to join. These groups will contain links to external sites that can harm your computer. One common misconception is that the act of joining a group in itself is a dangerous act (much like the hacker friend request hoaxes) but this is simply not true. It is wise to be careful because of these malicious external links, but joining a group in itself is a safe practise.

Additionally, many groups like this will link to external sites that will ask for personal information, especially cell phone numbers. The Facebook group that acts as bait will be set up by the same scammers who operate the external site, and the Facebook group will again claim to offer bonuses or features or something compelling so Facebook members will go to these external sites in order to get it. However these external sites usually request people to complete surveys and questionnaires and when taking the victims cell phone number and other personal information, which can lead to all sorts of problems for the victim, including the possibility they may be signed up for expensive SMS subscription. For more information on this type of SMS subscription scam, click here. Examples of groups or fan pages that do this are Gift Card Facebook groups, Celebrity Fan Pages and the Free Giveaway Facebook groups.

If you feel you have clicked on a suspicious link or installed a suspicious Facebook application as a result of one of these group hoaxes, it is important to run your antivirus software immediantly and do a full scan. If you don't have up-to-date reliable anti-virus software, click here for our recommended software.

Ultimately, it is up to you to decide what groups you want to and don’t want to join, but if you want to avoid having your time wasted and stay safe, stick to groups you are interested in, and avoid groups that seem to place a high priority on recruiting other people. Companies like Facebook or Zynga (makers of Mafia Wars and FarmVille) don’t benefit by getting large amounts of people to join Facebook groups so they don’t do it. There are no groups that genuinely reward people for joining and getting others to join. It is also unlikely groups are going to give away freebies for joining either – we’re yet to hear of a legitimate one. NEVER give out personal details to group admins, otherwise you may find yourself the victim of identity fraud. Last but not least, do your research – there are two useful groups on Facebook called Facebook Hoax and Hoax-Slayer where you can post questions, or you can visit our site, as we try and keep as up-to-date as we can regarding these hoaxes. Remember though, if you have your doubts or it seems too good to be true, is most probably is.



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