(Image courtesy of the “iPad Research Team”)
It was the late, great showman P.T. Barnum who presumably said, “There’s a sucker born every minute.” Of course, that was before the days of the Internet and Facebook, where hundreds (maybe thousands) of suckers are born every second.
The latest pipe dream comes courtesy of the “iPad Research Team,” a Facebook page that promises a free Apple iPad for being an early beta tester.
“Because of all the hype around the upcoming iPad, Fortune 500 companies are stocking up iPads to giveaway for review purposes,” the page claims. “We have been asked to give out as many iPads as possible for people to review and keep! So follow the instructions below and apply to get one as soon as they’re available!”
Of course, the first step in any great Facebook scam is for the member to “Become a Fan” of the page in question. “Click the button below and Step Two will get revealed,” the page promises.
And what is Step Two? Why, annoying all of your Facebook friends by inviting them to also join in your stupidity -- or is that gullibility? “IMPORTANT: If you do not invite ALL of your friend you may not be eligible,” the page now warns. “There’s an easy way to quickly invite all your friends. Click here to learn how!”
Needless to say, we ventured no further than Step Two. But that didn’t stop others from doing it -- the page has 3,905 fans (and counting) and was “liked” 172 times. Better yet, it features such comments by braniac fans like “Aaron” who says, “So awesome, can’t wait to get mine!” and “Alexis,” who gushes, “Just signed up for one, my bf (boyfriend) is going to love it. Thx!”
It would be irresponsible journalism of us to reprint a link to the offending Facebook page, but if you really can’t sleep tonight worrying that you’ll lose out on that free iPad, hit the links above. But don’t say that we didn’t warn you -- or lose a little bit of respect for you, maybe.
