The Center Parcs Facebook scam police are warning people to avoid

Police are warning of a new Facebook scam claiming to give away Center Parcs holidays.
The lake at Center Parcs, Sherwood Forest.The lake at Center Parcs, Sherwood Forest.
The lake at Center Parcs, Sherwood Forest.

Users of the social media network are being encouraged to share a post to win a Center Parcs holiday.

But it is not a genuine page, and has been set up by scammers for ‘like-farming’.

Scammers use this technique to get many likes and shares, and will then edit the post, adding something malicious like malware, to fill your page with spam.

These pages can also harvest personal information Facebook shares about you.

A Center Parcs spokesman said: “We are aware of a page on Facebook offering the chance to win a Center Parcs break, this is not a genuine page.

“Please do not enter your details or share the page.

“Genuine pages have a small tick next to the name and this shows the page is verified.”

The scam, offering free trips to the Center Parcs site at Longleat in Wiltshire was first flagged by Devon and Cornwall Police on Facebook.

But similar posts for the site at Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire have also been reported.

Police said: “Before sharing these posts take some time to check the page is genuine:

- Check out the page in full. Most large genuine businesses will have a small tick next to their name to show the page has been verified.

- How far back to the posts on their page go? This page was only set up 8 hours ago. The genuine Center Parcs page goes back years.

- How many likes do they have. The genuine Center Parcs UK page currently has over 369,000. This page currently only has 29,000. But that’s over 29,000 who have all put their personal information at risk in only 8 hours!”