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A Facebook group claiming to give away iPhones for free is drawing attention among Singaporean netizens, with many trying their hand at getting one of the promised devices.
The group, simply called 'Promotional iPhone 3GS Giveaway' was created by a user known a certain Elisabeth Cartenyae.
Elizabeth claims to work for an online company and said that she was doing this at her manager's request to advertise the company's website on Facebook.
She said in her post that the company had purchased "tens of thousands" of the smartphone but found it "did not fit with our requirements for UDK development".
As Apple had refused to take back the devices, Elizabeth said that the company then decided to give the smartphones away as selling them will result in a loss.
Getting an iPhone for free from the Facebook group would require a user to join it, and copy a set of codes into their web browser.
Netizens then have to access a certain website that would grant them access to answering a question and filling in a shipping form.
When the website was accessed without going through the previous steps, uses will only see a website with a greyed out section that states a survey must be completed before the user can access the shipping form.
As of Thursday, the group has attracted more than 16,000 users to join it, and many of them are from Singapore.
Several users have even posted questions on the group's message board, or 'Wall' requesting help on how to get one of the free devices.
One user known as Abigale Abigayle also made a post claiming to have received a black 32GB iPhone from the Facebook group.
Despite this, many netizens are convinced that the Facebook group is a scam. A discussion thread on the group's forum page revealed that some members were having problems accessing the protected site despite following all of the instructions detailed by Elizabeth.
As the forum requested for personal information from netizens, some worry that the Facebook group could be a phishing scam. Phishing is a malicious practice in which cyber criminals lead users to fake websites that capture personal information and data that is later used for illegal activities and identity theft.
Other users however, have suggested that the Facebook group was really just someone's clever way to get an iPhone for free.
According to a post made by a netizen named Lim Shang Yi, he claimed to have managed to bypass the protected page. But instead of being able to claim is iPhone, he was directed to another website in which users who had referred ten friends to it get a device for free themselves.
Thus, Lim concluded that by visiting the site it was not he who would get a free iPhone, but Elizabeth, who had referred the website to him.
Said the netizen, "So I would believe that I am helping this person obtain an iPhone since i am referred to the website by the owner of this group. Clever trick to get iphones!"
