We spoke to two readers who fell for one of those Facebook posts that claimed TV host Ellen was giving away large sums of money to users who shared and commented on a Facebook post.

Such posts appear to have been posted from the Ellen Facebook page, and typically ask those who see the post to share it to their own timeline and comment something like “done” or “win” on the post.

While many may interact with these posts “just in case” it’s real, we explain the dangers of doing so and how they could potentially cause very real harm.

The names of the readers have been changed.

Jared

How did it start?

I saw a post on my newsfeed, shared by a friend. It said it was from Ellen and was a video of her talking though I can’t remember about what. In the caption it said it was an “official giveaway”. It said you needed to share it on your newsfeed and comment “done” on the post and I could win cash and a gift card. So I did, and forgot about it. I don’t think I thought it was real but definitely thought that there was a chance.

Then what happened?

A few hours later the page tagged me in a comment asking me to message them, which I did. And they said I won a large cash prize. Which was great I couldn’t believe it. The page sent me some documents to fill in which looked quite official and had the Ellen Show logo all over them. They said my money would be delivered by a secure courier service or something to make sure everything was above board.

What did they ask you to do?

I filled in a couple of documents with my name and details like my address. Then they said I needed to pay a small fee for the courier. They said legally it had to come from the recipient so they or she couldn’t pay it. I didn’t want to hold up the process so I agreed. It was only $150 and they said the prize was worth way more than that. So I paid it through a service called MoneyGram. And then everything went silent.

When did you realise it was a scam?

As soon as I spoke to my girlfriend, she literally looked at me like “are you kidding?” It’s obviously a scam! Then it just clicked. I don’t know why I didn’t work it out. I guess because it took so long for them to mention the fee I had to pay I was just hooked by the time they got around to mentioning it. My girlfriend came into it with fresh eyes, and immediately knew it was a scam.

Did you get your money back?

No. Basically. It had been wired to an empty address and picked up by someone using a fake ID. So, no chance of seeing that again.

It took me another day to realise I still had the post shared on my newsfeed, and a load of my friends had commented on it. So I had to spend another hour or so warning all of them. One of my friends also said the page tagged them but they hadn’t spoken to them so I was able to ward them off before it was too late for them as well.

Jayne

How did it start?

A friend shared a post that claimed Ellen was giving way lots of money, or even a house to her followers. You had to make a comment on a post, like it and share it on your own newsfeed to win it. I’d seen a few before but this appeared to be the real deal. It was shared from what looked like her actual Facebook page and the post had thousands of people sharing and commenting on it. So I did too.

Then what happened?

I noticed a comment made by the Ellen page that said you had to confirm your entry by clicking a link and confirming your name and age. So I did. The link took me to a website that said I had to enter a competition for something. It wasn’t anything to do with Ellen but I entered my details anyway. It wasn’t just my name and age, it was my phone number, my address, my email, where I wanted to go on holiday. Loads of different things. I just assumed it was some sort of related offer that was something to do with Ellen as well. I did everything I was asked to do and then it said thanks and told me to close my browser.

What happened once you entered your details?

Firstly it was a couple of calls from people trying to sell me something, I can’t even remember what. One of those timeshare things I think for a condo. Then another one for some type of insurance I’ve never heard of. Then a text telling me I’ve won a competition. Then the emails start coming in, just typical spam. Another a week later it was coming in through the letterbox. And it’s never really stopped. I changed by phone number, and my email. Very, very annoying. I was getting scams sent through to me too, but thankfully I never fell for any of them.

And you never got any money from Ellen?

Ha no. So a few days later I pieced together everything and realized the post I shared wasn’t from Ellen, and that’s how these spammers got my information which they used to bombard me with rubbish.

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Both of these genuine accounts highlight the danger of sharing these posts that claim you can win large sums of money or prizes just for sharing a post on social media. The dangers can be very real, and of course you’re putting your friends at risk too since sharing these posts puts them in front of your Facebook friends as well.