Fake Facebook pages promise free gifts in exchange for 'Likes'

Promotions purporting to be from Apple and Beats Electronics offer "unsealed" hardware in exchange for "Likes" in an apparent scam to build fan page numbers.

A new hoax is making the rounds on Facebook, promising to giveaway expensive personal electronics items in exchange for a simple "Like."

One of the earliest examples of this hoax popped up a couple of days ago, inviting Facebook users to "Like" a page for a chance to be randomly picked to receive high-end headphones from Beats Electronics that allegedly couldn't be sold because they had been unsealed.

 We have got 1,239 boxes of Dre Beats and 250 Monster Beats By Dr Dre Studio Limited Edition that can't be sold because they have been unsealed. Therefore we are giving them away for free.

Want a pair? Just Share this photo & Like our page and we will choose 1,239 people completely at random on March 15th.

A spokesperson for Beats Electronics, the company founded by hip-hop producer Dr Dre and music mogul Jimmy Iovine, told CNET it was not affiliated with the fake offer and contacted Facebook to have the page removed.

An apparently fake promotion that hasn't disappeared yet is one for dozens of Apple tablets on an official looking Facebook page that identifies itself as "Apple" and includes a banner with images of Apple products.

 We have got 82 boxes of iPad Mini's [sic] that can't be sold because they have been unsealed. Therefore we are giving them away for free.

Just Share this photo & Like our page and we will choose 82 people completely at random on March 17th.

Good luck!

The page already has nearly 47,000 "Likes" by people apparently unaware that Apple sells plenty of refurbished hardware, making such a giveaway unnecessary and unlikely. Apple, which has a legitimate Facebook page with nearly 9 million "Likes," has been contacted for comment and we will update this report when we learn more.