A fake Qantas Facebook page lured thousands by asking people to "like" and share for a chance to win a non-existent first-class ticket.
CNN  — 

We’ve all heard the saying.

If something appears too good to be true, it probably is.

That didn’t stop thousands of Facebook users from sharing a photo posted by a fake airline page in the hope of snagging a year of free first-class flights.

About a day ago, the “complimentary invitation to Qantas’ First Lounge” campaign appeared on a copycat Qantas Airline Facebook page and quickly went viral.

The campaign invited Facebook users to like and share a picture before March 17 – less than 48 hours after the post went up – to win an entire year of free first-class flights.

Within the first 23 hours since the post was published it had accumulated over 130,000 likes and about 157,000 shares on Facebook.

Australia’s national carrier soon issued a statement saying the viral campaign was a scam.

“We are aware of a fake Facebook account masquerading as Qantas,” said Qantas’ spokesperson.

“This is a scam and has nothing to do with Qantas. Our campaigns are always run from our authenticated Facebook page (identified by its authorized blue tick), or through the official Qantas website.”

Fake page taken down

Despite the clarification, the fake post continued to be shared and was flooded with excited comments from those hoping they’d soon be enjoying champagne and flatbed seats.

“Qantas has already had a number of the scam pages removed,” said Qantas.

“Facebook has been advised of the scam and is investigating.”

The page, online for about 24 hours, has since been taken down by Facebook.