STORY UPDATED: check for updates below.
A Twitter account purporting to be owned by Mega Millions winner Shane Missler put out a tweet saying the first 50,000 followers to retweet and like it would get $5,000. Missler won the $451 million jackpot on january 5th 2018 but opted for a lump sum payment of $281.2 million instead of payment in installments.
Unfortunately the tweet (archived here) is bogus:
Hey guys! I am the lottery winner of $451 Million. With this incredible opportunity I am giving back $5,000 to the first 50k followers that retweet and like this post. This is to much money and I love helping people!🙏🏻 pic.twitter.com/pHvqB5Umgp
-- Shane Missler (@Shane_MissIer) 16 januari 2018
The twitter account @Shane_Missler was only registered on January 15th 2018 while Shane's real account @TheShaneMissler was registered in February 2016. He already used it to put out a warning about fake accounts:
Again, thank you all for tuning in. This journey has only just begun, mark my words. Unfortunately many fake accounts have already circulated. My only active and real accounts are Instagram and Twitter both @TheShaneMissler 🙏🏻 💯 #GratefulBeyondWords
-- Shane Missler (@TheShaneMissler) January 13, 2018
That didn't seem to stop many people from taking a chance anyway: at the moment of writing the fake tweet was approaching 10,000 retweets. Weirdly the number of likes was only at 7,700 so at least 2,300 people were apparently not even smart enough to follow the full instructions of a hoax tweet.
Updates:
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2018-01-16T17:47:16Z 2018-01-16T17:47:16Z It appears Twitter has disabled the account of the most popular version of the hoax and someone else took over the nickname. However new variations of the fake tweet are taking its place:Reply with your venmo/paypal/cashapp usernames. 50,000 lucky followers will be chosen once this post gets 50,000 retweets! Good luck!
— Shane Missler (@misler_shane) January 16, 2018I am giving back $5,000 to the first 50k followers that retweet and like this post. This is to much money and I love helping people!🙏🏻 pic.twitter.com/ciRk5Tj8N6
— Shane Missler (@TravelTheGlobes) January 16, 2018 -
2018-01-16T14:24:11Z 2018-01-16T14:24:11Z They keep coming:Jackpot win of $281M I can't believe it!! 🤑🤑 Out of generosity I will be giving away $1,000,000 to someone who retweets this. Must be following ✔️✔️
— Real Shane Missler (@ShaneMissIer_) January 15, 2018 -
2018-01-16T14:23:50Z 2018-01-16T14:23:50Z And one more:I’m give $2000 to my first 50k followers! Just RT this and follow me @missler_shane! God blessed me and I’m gonna bless some of you! ❤️ pic.twitter.com/pliWDvnk9U
— Shane Missler (@missler_shane) January 14, 2018 -
2018-01-16T14:09:18Z 2018-01-16T14:09:18Z Here's another bogus tweet from a fake account:I feel like because I have gotten so lucky I should share my wealth with some of you! I would like to get into social media and start doing more things for others please RT & FOLLOW! I will be giving everyone $1000 who does 😁 Happy 2018 I am so blessed!
— Shane Missler (@shane_missler) January 13, 2018
