2023-07-21 14:58:00
Mayhem in the midst of Facebook “competitors”! For the past two years, recurring suspicions of cheating have surrounded a band of winners deemed too lucky. The situation upsets the daily life of fans of online contests, who spend between three and seven hours a day finding any opportunity to win prizes, some of which have a value exceeding a thousand euros. The six contestants interviewed by the Tribune agree: whereas before, they won at least one prize per month on Facebook thanks to dozens of daily participations, they now very rarely come out of the draws. And never for the jackpot.
To participate in contests, it is usually enough to be subscribed to the page of the organizing company, to like the publication, and to “tag” (identify under the publication) a certain number of friends. Then, the brand launches a draw, using specialized software in most cases, then announces the winner. In theory, all participants therefore leave with the same chances of success. The problem ? A handful of contestants pointed out by the community each win several dozen times a month, in contests which for many of them exceed 1,000 participants. What exacerbate the suspicions of cheating.
Isabelle, nine competitions won in two weeks
The beginning of July was particularly lucky for Isabelle*. Latest win: one of the two bags at 60 euros put into play by an online leather goods store. More than 1,000 participants had lent themselves to the game, but it was his name that came out for the jackpot. This stroke of luck would have gone unnoticed if the winner had not won two other competitions on the same day, which had attracted more than 300 participants for one and more than 1,000 participants for the other.
In all, Isabelle won nine Facebook contests in the space of two weeks: beauty products, children’s toys and even food baskets. It is an understatement to say that the contestant is lucky: from a purely mathematical point of view, the scenario of a victory in the 9 contests amounted to one chance out of trillions of billions. More precisely, a chance rate of the order of zero followed by 21 zeros after the comma… For comparison, EuroMillions participants have a 1 in 139,838,160 chance to win the jackpot.
If Isabelle’s example attracts suspicion, especially as the miraculous weeks follow one another, she is not alone in this situation. A handful of other names, cited by concordant sources, come out just as regularly at the top of Facebook contests, with more than twenty wins per month! ” Before they came, I was earning about once a month on Facebook. Now it’s impossible breathes Sylvie*, who plays between three and four hours every evening in front of her television. Contacted on Facebook, Isabelle has not yet answered our questions.
Suspected computer hacking
The situation is such that some contestants end up avoiding Facebook in their treasure hunt. This is the case for Marine*, who has been passionate about it for more than ten years: ” I am discouraged. QWhen I see their names appear in the participants, I know I have no chance. They’re going to win either way, so I’m not even trying anymore. Might as well save your time. “. For her part, Justine has never seen such a situation in twenty years of attendance at contests. ” Why participate when the same accounts always win? “, she laments, before adding, “ pfor me, their situation has nothing to do with luck. »
In each interview conducted by the Tribune, this same sound of bell resounds. Destitute contestants are convinced that strangely regular winners are rigging the results of the draws with ” piracy ” or ” hacking “. In other words, they would have found a computer manipulation to make their name appear, systematically, at the exit of the hat. But on closer examination, the theory loses consistency, since the contest organizers contacted use a wide variety of different software for their draws: Tirokdo, Plouf Plouf, Fanpage Karma or Random Picker. Separate software, each of which meets different security standards.
In other words, it is unlikely that the same person exploits a vulnerability for each of them. As for the possibility, raised by the contestants, that the supposed cheaters were manipulating Facebook, it was quickly brushed aside by a professional hacker contacted by the Tribune : « if a malicious actor discovers a significant vulnerability on Facebook, he has several ways to get rich that will be much more lucrative and discreet than contests. »
“Random” drawing? Not really
The recipe for the exceptional gains of a handful would therefore be found elsewhere. ” LThe drawing tools are not really random: the lists of participants can very easily be modified to be accommodating », notes the expert. ” Quite often, retailers choose the winners “, abounds Sandrine, who shares her daily life as a competitor on her YouTube channel Family Concours. Contacted by the Tribune to explain the workings of this particular environment, the videographer, passionate about contests since a very young age, reminds us that certain draws are closer to a choice than a random decision. ” Competitions are primarily organized to build customer loyalty. The objective remains to highlight the brand “, she recalls
Thus, some organizers do not hesitate to “force fate” if they believe that a profile corresponds to a potential customer, who would in fact have a real interest for the brand, and not a simple search for gain. ” I see it with my profile: I who highlight content related to cooking, I often win the gourmet prizes. I win because the brands say to themselves that I am really interested in the prize and that, in addition, I will be likely to promote my win. It’s an campaign “, suggests the videographer, before concluding, “ cIt’s not in their interest to win someone who doesn’t have followers or photos. » Different community managers [les personnes responsables des réseaux sociaux d’entreprise, ndlr] contacted concede avoiding winning the profiles of the contestants when they manage to identify them.
Is the magic recipe for recurring winners to be found in a manipulation of this ” draw of your choice »? Their Facebook profiles appear banal, with a few innocuous public photos, commented on by a handful of friends. Those observed by the Tribune have no obvious fakes, although the names used do not appear on other social networks or on the White Pages. But at least these accounts show no trace of participation in contests, and it is impossible at first sight to guess that they belong to contestants.
The recipe for the exceptional luck of serial winners therefore remains secret. And while waiting to solve the mystery, Isabelle has just hit the jackpot again: a coffee machine, worth 88 euros, in a competition with more than 2,000 participants.
*Names have been changed
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