Beware of scammers exploiting the “Pokémon GO”- hype.
Pokémon GO is spreading rapidly around the world, sending more and more aspiring trainers on new adventures. Unfortunately, all this excitement comes with its downsides. Especially on Facebook, there are increasingly more fraudulent pages posing as the official “Pokémon GO” page and starting contests or similar. Some enthusiastic Pokémon trainers fall for these scams.
“Official” doesn’t always mean “official”
In the past, there have often been contests on Facebook that made one shake their head when their Facebook friends shared them. There was an Audi official page that gave away a brand new car to 3 users – however, the condition was that you had to like the page, share the post, and write your favorite color in the comments. The final prize was, by the way, a picture of a poster of the displayed car.
Even Pokémon GO is not spared from these scammers. Pages like “Pokémon GO Germany Official” or “Pokémon Go – Plus” advertise fake contests that are unfortunately eagerly shared by various Facebook users. At the moment, there isn’t even a trading function in Pokémon GO, which would make it possible to receive a Pokémon as a gift.
Some pages that already had several thousands of likes have been disabled by Facebook. Also warn your friends not to just like and share every random Facebook contest. Official pages often have a blue checkmark next to the name, which confirms the authenticity of the page. Don’t fall for it.
Tips and tricks for Pokémon GO can be found in our guide collection.
