A hoax making the rounds on Facebook purports to offer users a free Apple iPad. One such hoax involving the iPad2 documented by the website Hoax Slayer involved a supposed partnership between Apple and Gmail. Supposedly, Apple was clearing out their current inventory of iPad2's to make room for the iPad3 version and random gmail addresses were selected to participate. Those who go to the reward page are asked to participate in an online survey, in which they can supposedly win more prizes, such as iPhones. But this page is a bait and switch operation that actually signs up victims for expensive services that are billed at several dollars per message. The people who set up these scams do so in order to get commissions for each sale they make. In reality, such devices cost hundreds of dollars.
Snopes notes that there are other such claims involving purported partnerships between Apple and Craigslist and Facebook as well. Some unscrupulous marketers hack Facebook accounts and set up fake chats or fake messages in order to lure unsuspecting victims.
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