If you didn't enter a contest- You can't be a Winner. It's that plain & simple, any simpler explanation would be illegal. 

Unfortunately scammers have successfully used ploys of logic to skirt the "didn't enter" aspect. 

"This contest is sponsored by Kroger, Wal-Mart, and CVS Pharmacy, did you shop at any of these within the last 90 days?"

"yes"

"That purchase automatically entered you into this contest and you are the $1,000,000 winner"

Plain, simple, and effective.  We members at LP are aware of these tactics but many still fall prey.  It is the instantaneous allure that takes hold of common senses. 

"they know I shopped at Wal-Mart (not seeing the logic that millions of people have in the last 90 days), so it must be legitimate, I must be a winner".

Scammers have an answer for every question:

How did you get my number? "Your used your customer loyalty card (credit card) and that identified you and entered you into the contest".

Why do I have to pay to receive my prize? "While the contest is able to pay the prize, state and federal statues do not permit sponsors to pay administrative fees involved with issuing prize payouts".

It, in essence, is a major sales job.  Think about the Kirby door to door salesmen (if you are old enough).  If you let them in your door forget it, you might as well set an extra plate for Thanksgiving because they wouldn't leave until you bought the sweeper, and extra accessories, that costs as much as a car!  A good salesperson plays on emotions.  Of course a good salesperson doesn't mean the salesperson is a good person (noting not all salespeople are bad), and this is where scammers become able to carry out their sinister deeds.

<snip> the scammers who prey on weak, fragile, and gentle souls, <snip> them all!

I saw win a $1 entry into  mega millions with 1 click. they had the official mega millions banner on the  page.  I searched their domain on whois, and found an anonymous website owner.   went to the  other sites hosted on the server and fouind " win a free iphone "  win a free laptop " etc 
I assume its some sort of phishing scam the one i found. enter email address, then they sell the list to highest bidders. i guess the domain can be turned to malware once a decent number of visits is achieved. but bottom line if its free give ways on FB. its just a scam.

this looks like the same scam, i never went further than the one click. then i just did my searches

 one of millions of reasons I'm glad not to have an account at facebook

l see your point . Here's the thing, what if you don't have a Facebook account, then what? These guys know that having a FB account is a foot in the door to gullible folks who are looking for an easy payday. Ultimately, these scammers are Going to ask you for money, if folks are dumb enough to fork over their cash, well less power to them..l stand by my original post- if you did not enter a contest, you did not win. The old adage still rings true " There is no such thing as a free lunch".

I got suckered big time over the weekend,  l should have seen it coming but didn't- l confess. I drove out to American Canyon with the wife  on Saturday to visit a friend, we pull into a gas station,  this guy approaches me and asks for $3.00 because " his run out of gas and his car is half a mile away" -l said l was using my debit card to purchase gas so..tough bud. Just then l see this guy dressed in rags literally digging & sniffing  through the trash can at the gas station, he pulls out a " to go" box with a sandwich & some fries" that was tossed. Sits down 5 feet from me and starts munching on this thing. The wife says " you see that, you gonna give him something? ".. so l dig into my pocket and come up with $4.00 and hand it over. The original dude comes out of nowhere and says " l saw that, you giving him cash and not me, l said, yeah- because his hungry and food comes before gas Man" - he cussed me out and left- as we drove out of the station, l see the two guys in my rear view mirror talking to each and sharing my "Freaking Money", that's when I figured out that the " to go" food was planted there awhile ago- perfect setup for sucker like me & others coming to that gas station no doubt. l turned to the Mrs and said " Now did you see that..she says Don't even start with me! "

* Gospel Truth.

I've had one for several years and enjoy it, and while I can't think of millions of reasons I enjoy it, I can think of several.  It's a great way to keep in touch with my younger kinfolk (since they don't do email and I don't text) plus other family members.  I've reconnected with old classmates and college buddies as well as my long-time online friends whom I met in the now-defunct MSN Groups.  I'm even FB friends with my ex.

I subscribe to a lot of recipe websites in my reader, but I also follow other food-related pages on FB.   There are other pages I follow and while many don't have a forum or a comment section on their website, I can comment or ask questions on the posts on Facebook.   I also subscribe to a few celebrity pages and esp. enjoy interacting with some of the actors or athletes I admire.  (Granted, some celeb's FB pages are administered by someone else, but quite a few are actually by the celebrity.  I particularly enjoy Mike Rowe's page. ) 

With a few add-ons to my browser, I've customized the look of it and done away with the obtrusive ads.  The people who get their accounts hijacked are those who either don't care about their security settings or are apathetic about it....at least until it's hijacked.   I don't play games, don't allow any apps access to my information, so I haven't had any problems.

Besides that, I follow LP on Facebook as a show of support.  It's the same articles that are in the News forum, so it's a good way to be notified of a new post.  I come in here fairly often, but it's usually b/c there's been a new Discussion forum post or several to the ones I've subscribed to in my reader via the RSS feature provided.

Hey Noise~Gate, this same thing happened to me and I got suckered in a shopping center parking lot.  If I had been on my game I would have followed him to where his car was supposedly at but he caught me off guard.  Which is what I think they hope for and pry on.  I found I had been had when the guy walks off in the opposite direction of where his car was.  Guess "the wife and kids" weren't important lol.

Two weeks later a woman approached me with the same line, I said "oh bs, you guys got me once, it isnt going to happen again, you should be ashamed of yourself, take a hike".  She looked at me like oh well, on to the next.  Truly very sad.

NO FB for me either.

lejardin & Noise-Gate,   I thank both of you for your real life stories. Very humorous and educational.

 Just wait until you are both major jackpot winners. You will fill up these page with all your stories.

Anyone that is that greedy and foolish and falls for this Facebook scam is a SUCKER and deserves to get scammed. Any idiot knows you can't win a prize if you've never entered, especially from the lottery.

Thanks Music.  It was an education for me after the fact and felt so stupid for being soft-hearted.  It is truly sad because it makes you not want to help anybody regardless of circumstances.  When I win, I will still help but do so in a way that no money is exchanged person-to-person.  How about paying off Walmart/Sears/Toy 'R Us layaways anonymously for Christmas?  There are so many ways to help others that I won't ever get ripped off by losers this way again. 

Good Luck everyone on the upcoming Mega and PB if you play.

Thanks for posting this IMPORTANT  info.   

This is why lotteries should be legal and open to subscribers. If not, illegal lotteries will fill the void.

I recently got locked out of my Facebook account. In order to regain access, Facebook requested that I upload ID. I never heard of this before, so instead I just opened a new account.

Does Australia allow for subscription services for different, I am assume, lotteries there?  Here we're restricted from that due to a 1961 law that is long overdue to be dumped.  I can play one lottery in my home state of Massachusetts over the phone because it is not a multi state lottery.  You and I know it as Mega Bucks Doubler and can be ordered over the phone.  I had to personally buy my Mega Millions and Lucky 4 Life tickets while on Cape Cod this past July.  States like NY, VA and MD that I know of you have to have a physical address in those states for subscription services.  Due to Powerball changes, subscription for it was not available.

In the future I believe this law will be tossed out, the DOJ here has turned a blind eye to parts of it.  A very slow process.