Thousands of Aussies fall for tiny house giveaway scam
The scam saw 119,000 people sign up to the competition last week on a page called Tiny Homes Australia, before it was revealed that the competition was a scam.
The page, called Tiny Homes Australia invites people to like the page and click ‘done’ after which they are redirected to a sign up button where they can register their personal details.
A company also called Tiny Homes Australia – based in Ringwood, Victoria – said they were not running any giveaway promotions, encouraging people to report the fake competitions to Facebook if they came across them.
“Just another notice to let you guys know about the scam Tiny Home giveaway that is going on!,” they posted to their Facebook page on December 1.
“The page is called ‘Tiny Homes Australia’ however it is NOT US!
“They are trying to get your details and have succeeded with many people.
“We have been contacted by some of them having a go at us for all the spam they are receiving.
“The post has been reported multiple times however is still running.
“If you see it please report or just ignore it. DO NOT CLICK IT!”
The fake giveaway shows a modestly sized but sleekly appointed home, taken from a Canadian company called The Mint Tiny House Company.
On their own Facebook page they wrote: “Just wanted to give you a quick heads up about a scam page that has taken our photos and are using them for a ‘free’ giveaway of a tiny house,” they wrote.
“This is not us, nor are any of our tiny homes for giveaway.”
Once readers were alerted to the scam, they expressed their disgust and disappointment.
“I’m sorry you’ve had to go through this. What a pain in the proverbial for you,” one person wrote.
“All dreams crushed,” wrote another next to a crying emoji.
Thousands of Australians have handed over their personal information as part of a Facebook scam that dupes entrants into thinking they could win a tiny house giveaway.
