[Alert] Free "Smiley" hats & Free Vans shoes a Scam

So far over 300,000 people have been duped into "liking" a facebook page that claims to offer the first 750,000 people who like the page free "Smiley" hats and Vans brand shoes.

Here's what the junk Smiley Hat scam looks like in your facebook account: ...and here's what the fake Vans shoes scam looks like: Sophos, an antivirus software company specializing in business-oriented antivirus software, appears to be one of the first to break the news of this latest scam on their blog with the aptly named page: "Smiley Hats Vans Facebook Scams".

Graham Cluley, who wrote the piece for Sophos sums it up, saying,

...do you really believe that you are going to be sent a smiley hat?

"And who is this un-named company that is planning to ask 750,000 people for their name and postal address?

"Is it possible they are planning to do anything else with that information if you hand it over to them?

And what - seriously - are the chances that they are going to spend the money shipping that many hats to people who don't even know what brand it is that they are promoting.

Here's my $.02.

If it's legit, how are they planning to collect mailing addresses for that many people?

Think about it. Seven hundred fifty THOUSAND people.

Let's assume the mailing cost alone is $2/hat, we'll be optimistic.

You're talking about 1.5 *million* dollars just in mailing costs. Oh, and what brand is being promoted? Who's footing the bill for mailing the hats?

And we haven't even talked about the technology required to track that many addresses, link them to facebook accounts, and ensure everyone has been mailed one (but not several! hats) as it's going to take days--or even weeks--to get everyone to send in their addresses for the hats.

Oh, yah... and what about the cost of the hats themselves?

Even if they're $1 a piece to make, you're still talking about another $750,000 in costs. All with no mention of a brand behind it.

Methinks there's a rat in here somewhere.

As for Vans, Cluely says they're already disavowed the promotion for free shoes with this post to their official Vans Europe facebook page,

What should I do

If you've already liked either of these scams, do yourself--and your friends--a favor and at least "unlike" them. No reason to help the scammers get any further in their ploy to get your personal information.

Next, pay attention to your inbox. There's little question these scammers are looking to get at your email address to send you spam, phishing, and even spear-phishing emails.

Pay attention to what you click in your inbox. Think about what you're clicking on and who might have really sent that email to you.

And, let's remember: Facebook really is an incredible site with a whole world inside. The problem is, there is a whole world inside, good people and scammers alike.

Just because you're "surrounded" by friends in facebook, doesn't mean you get to check your street smarts at the [login] box.

The bottom line here: if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

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Thanks and credit to Sophos and Graham Cluely for the find and the screenshots.