THE INTERNET — A Facebook page being shared by many is a fake, says Internet hoax site Snopes.
The Facebook page “Floyd Mayweather HQ” has posts that claim to be the champion boxer has “so much money … I’ve decided its about time that I give back to the people that supported me over the years.”
The page features a number of pictures allegedly of Mayweather and piles of money. Visitors are instructed to “like” the page, and winners would be chosen at random. This is known as “Like Farming.”
The page has more than 66,000 likes.
The genuine Mayweather Facebook page has more than 9 million likes.
“The true purpose of these pages is often to gain enough traction in Facebook’s algorithm to begin appearing in users’ news feeds,” says Snopes in a post about the scam. “The owners of the page can then post advertising and links that reach a much wider audience because of the groundwork they’ve laid by collecting likes. They can link to whatever products or sites they wish, including products that they may receive a commission on or identity-stealing malware.”
Since liking a Facebook page lets posts from that page appear on your Facebook feed, liking this page would open a direct connection to you for the scammers.
