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FarmVille Scam: Beware of “Rainbow Cow” Notice
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Several FarmVille Freaks have reported seeing a new scam that seems to be going around Facebook.
In the latest series of scams, this one asks you to claim a free Limited Edition “Rainbow Cow”.
Please be aware that this is a scam! This is not a post from the Official Zynga FarmVille Game!
FarmVille Freak advises you to report any unusual posts on Facebook and stay away from any unfamiliar apps! Make sure they are blocked so your FarmVille account remains unharmed!
Better safe than sorry! Be sure to share this with your wonderful neighbors!
Have you seen the “Rainbow Cow” on your Facebook feed yet?
Posted on March 4th, 2011 at 12:54 pm
This just popped up on my wall. Knew it was a scam as soon as I saw it.
Posted on March 4th, 2011 at 12:57 pm
I saw this a few times on my feed. I kind of figured it was a scam.
Posted on March 4th, 2011 at 1:00 pm
Clicked “Claim” but did not accept it on the next page… had second thought.. Whewww~
Posted on March 4th, 2011 at 1:03 pm
I want this cow for real!
Posted on March 4th, 2011 at 1:04 pm
How can you tell this is scam?
Posted on March 4th, 2011 at 1:07 pm
How can you tell it’s a scam? Because it’s not Farmville, that’s how! If you click on the page, the devloper of the page is someone named Gemma Jones.
Everyone should do their part in reporting these pages and spreading word to friends that aren’t smart enough to figure it out.
Posted on March 4th, 2011 at 1:07 pm
Why are there so many scams recently?
Posted on March 4th, 2011 at 1:08 pm
Thought it was from Farmville because it said ‘via Farmville’..?? Isn’t that the way we were told you were able to tell if it’s bogus or not by looking at the ‘via’ whatever..??
I however did not click it and told everyone who’s page I got a post from it was a fake..
What is the damage if you do click it..?? Do you suggest changing passwords..??
Thanx..!
Posted on March 4th, 2011 at 1:08 pm
I saw it too.
Posted on March 4th, 2011 at 1:08 pm
The graphic on that cow looks horrible! It’s so sad that people actually believe that this can be real
Posted on March 4th, 2011 at 1:10 pm
it means it will be coming oput all of the scams the iteam or animal is released i will buy it
Posted on March 4th, 2011 at 1:12 pm
We have always been told to look at how the post appears at the bottom. Look for the ear of corn and the via FarmVille. check out how it appears on these scam posts It is no wonder far to many are fooled by them.
Posted on March 4th, 2011 at 1:19 pm
Dear Farmville freak,
Protection people who fall for this kind of scams is not possible: those people are not smart enough to understand your explanation. So please concentrate on real news, not on scams.
What could be don about scams like this? Isn’t that a task for Facebook?
thank you
Gurk
Posted on March 4th, 2011 at 1:29 pm
It’s great that FF alerts on the scams because there are new players and visitors to FF all the time looking for information.
Since the scammers have got really good with using the ear of corn and FB allows them to use the FarmVille name on their application, there are other ways to be sure.
Check the wall. There are no posts. Suspicious considering millions play.
Check the Info tab. The developer is Gemma Jones? You know it’s Zynga’s game, Gemma Jones isn’t reported in the news for all the money she is earning on the game.
Check the reviews tab. All the posts say “SCAM”. That should be enough right there to convince you.
Check the discussions tab. Posts stating they have reported the developer and the page as scammers.
Don’t just click on something new, its usually too good to be true. Do the smallest bit of investigating on your own before exposing yourself and your friends to scams and viruses.
Think before you click.
Posted on March 4th, 2011 at 1:40 pm
Purple cheetah, it’s not that I am not smart. Geesh. I am with Melinda on this. I was told if there was a corn ear and and it said via farmville, it is legit.
Posted on March 4th, 2011 at 1:44 pm
I wish this were real :/
Posted on March 4th, 2011 at 1:46 pm
every time farmville freak says somethings a scam, a few days later it turns out to NOT be a scam, whos scamming whom?
Posted on March 4th, 2011 at 1:46 pm
what if you clic and excepted??? any addvice? what to do???
Posted on March 4th, 2011 at 1:54 pm
Sorry Gina,
Maybe I should have said savvy instead of smart. Unless FV personally told you to believe in the ear of corn or via Farmville, why believe it? Its been obvious for quite some time that the ear of corn and the via Farmville haven’t been reliable in determining if it’s a scam or not because they have been being used for months if not a year or more by the scammers.
The good thing: Now you are informed enough to let your friends know that the ear of corn and the via farmville tag are not information to base decisions on!
Posted on March 4th, 2011 at 1:55 pm
Every facebook user has an ID that is visible when you hover your cursor over the “via” link. The true FarmVille user ID is 102452128776. This rainbow cow site shows ID 180069235363500
Posted on March 4th, 2011 at 2:06 pm
I always figure if FV wants to give me something it will be given to me when I open my farm, like the free fuel this week or the start of a building. If it’s not there, I don’t click.
Posted on March 4th, 2011 at 2:07 pm
That looks nothing like a FarmVille paint job, but thanks for helping put out the heads-up.
Posted on March 4th, 2011 at 2:23 pm
hey looking for more farmville friend add me please ty
Posted on March 4th, 2011 at 2:31 pm
You don’t even have to click to figure it out. If you just hover over the ‘Claim it’ link, you can see the app name is not “onthefarm” for FV, but something else like “____farmestate____” or whatever.
Posted on March 4th, 2011 at 2:38 pm
It is so simple to check whether a post is real.
Hover your mouse over “via FarmVille” on a known valid post. You will see the Facebook application ID number for FarmVille in the lower left corner of your screen if you use Firefox.
Before clicking on any suspect post, check the FB app ID. If not FarmVille, report immediately to Facebook.
Posted on March 4th, 2011 at 2:43 pm
Purple cheetah, It’s okay. I usually can tell by looking at something and know it is a scam. This one looked pretty convincing to me.
Posted on March 4th, 2011 at 3:08 pm
A better way to check for a scam is to mouse over the link it wants to send you to. If it doesn’t go to /onthefarm/ , it’s fake.
Posted on March 4th, 2011 at 3:09 pm
Why does Facebook make it so hard to report apps like this? When reporting the app there is no option to label the app as a scam. Choosing the “other” option is a waste because there is no text box to give a reason why you are reporting the app in the first place. Seems to me Facebook is making it far too easy for these scammers to operate in the first place.
Posted on March 4th, 2011 at 3:53 pm
Dear Farmville people,
It’s a game, it’s all data, all of your little animals are all PNG’s and can be edited easily. There’s nothing that can be done about the scams, so why even complain about them?
If they bother you all this much, quit playing the game, easy as that.
Anon.
Posted on March 4th, 2011 at 4:00 pm
@GeminiCFL – because FB is most probably making money out of it.
Every click a penny?
Posted on March 4th, 2011 at 4:37 pm
i got it in my farm it looks epic lol
Posted on March 4th, 2011 at 6:17 pm
It is ugly anyway. I hope it never gets released.
Posted on March 4th, 2011 at 6:56 pm
It is so easy to say someone isn’t smart, but hey, at least we are all here trying to help each other. Isn’t that smart? Hey, I didn’t know the bit about hovering over “via Farmille” to see its origin, so that helps quite a lot. (Now am I smarter, lol?) I agree, some scams look scammy, but others are pretty convincing, and it’s too bad about the corn icon. Good advice to scrutinize a NEW “bonus, ” to be sure it’s not a gift that keeps giving, virally. Thanks everyone!
Posted on March 4th, 2011 at 7:19 pm
The way you can tell if its Real from FV is by placing your mouse over the word Farmville by the Corn icon . As we all have our own FB ID’ so does Farmville and the last digits will be 28776. With Windows the address with ID will show on the lower left corner on your wall. Let your friends know this and spread this like a virus on FB. Lets lets put a stop to these scammers.
Posted on March 4th, 2011 at 8:18 pm
Since FVF became an “official” fan site, the scams are the way to see the unreleased items.
Posted on March 5th, 2011 at 1:07 am
yeah anytime you have to click a second time its a scam but I gotta admit they are getting good at this scam stuff.. they even have the correct name and the corn cob.. those not as smart as us will surely be scammed and in turn will effect us too UGH
Posted on March 5th, 2011 at 2:08 am
What happens if you are a FV newbie and clicked it (like me :/) What should you do?
Posted on March 6th, 2011 at 9:00 pm
I just saw this free cow and saw it again a day or two ago. I knew it was a scam as this does not exist but surely is cute.
Posted on March 17th, 2011 at 3:15 pm
I tried to remove the post, it wouldn’t let me do that. I tried to hide the post, wouldn’t let me do that. I tried to report as spam, wouldn’t let me do that. I think that is just wrong.
Posted on March 19th, 2011 at 8:28 pm
Yes, I have seen it. New variation today: when I click link (so I can go to bogus page to report it) a Facebook Publish to wall pops up. When I closed that, it popped another box telling me I could not get the cow if I did not publish. No X to close that box.
I do not play Farm Ville, I keep posting on my FB status about all the FarmVille scams because my game friends get suckered daily by one of them.
Posted on May 1st, 2011 at 9:45 pm
A really easy to see if a post is legit, and doesn’t need a shred of tech-savviness, is to use the Facebook Game Requests link : http://www.facebook.com/games?ap=1
It comes on every Facebook page, and it shows all gift requests, as well as filters on feeds, so you can look at only LEGIT FarmVille feeds, or Mafia Wars feeds, or whatever games/apps you use on FB. Since it sorts by application, random viral crapplications won’t even show up. NO rainbow cows, NO union jack eggs, nothing phishy.
Posted on June 5th, 2011 at 9:45 pm
What about the one that has the cow as it really looks in the collections?
I read that is a virus. But the cow is the same one I got from my dairy collection yesterday. And it also says via Farmville. Please let us know.