It’s a scam! Toyota is NOT rewarding Facebook engagements with cars

Yesterday, it emerged in the trends on Facebook that a page, “Toyota Hilux, Club”, posing as a distributor of Toyota cars is running a promo for people who engage with their posts to win a car.

The specific post which went viral stated that they were giving a 2022 Toyota Landcruiser luxury car away to people who share and comment on their post because the car had developed dents and scratches, but they didn’t want to sell it off as second-hand.

“Due to having a few small dents and scratches we have been unable to sell this in our showroom, rather than flog it as second hand we have decided to bring some joy by giving it to someone who has shared then commented before August 17 at 9pm. Delivery should be within 2 weeks,”’ the post said.

At the time of filling this report, the post had garnered about 1.2k comments and 2.2k shares including receiving engagements from many notable handles and influencers.

Fact-Check Ghana’s verification has shown that the promo is a scam and the Facebook page making the promotional offer is fake.

Fact-Check Ghana adopted two levels of authentication to verify the post. Firstly, the team assessed the “Toyota Hilux, Club” Facebook and afterwards enquired from Toyota Ghana Limited to confirm the veracity of the viral post.

“Toyota Hilux, Club” page is a spoof account

The details of the “Toyota Hilux, Club” page indicate that it’s a “Fan Page”. Thus, it’s neither a showroom, distributor nor a dealer of Toyota cars. It’s merely an account set up by an individual who likes Toyota Hilux cars, it seems. For context, the details of the official Facebook page of Toyota Ghana Limited state it’s a “car dealership” page.

Also, “Toyota Hilux, Club” does not provide any contact or address details for one to reach out should they want to buy from them. The availability of address and contact details are very significant for any business wanting to truly makes sales or engage with potential customers online.

Fact-Check Ghana’s checks of the transparency information of the Facebook page indicate that the page was not originally set up as Toyota Hilux, Club. It was set up on May 29, 2022, as “Camper and RV World”. It changed to its current name on March 6, 2023. Thus, the page used to post content on Campervans, recreational vehicles used for camping out while travelling, until six months ago.

From the above, the page is just a spoof account set up to gather followers and engagements on Facebook.

“It’s a scam” – Toyota Ghana Limited

Fact-Check Ghana reached out to the verified account of Toyota Ghana Limited on Facebook to ascertain the authenticity of the viral giveaway post. The company which affirms itself as “the sole authorised distributor for Toyota Motor Corporation of Japan” in Ghana said they are not associated with the Toyota Hilux Club page.

“Toyota Ghana is not affiliated to this page. It appears to be a scam,” the company said.

The company also said it is not running any promo that requests social media handles to engage with their posts to win cars, adding that “it’s a scam”.