Is Facebook Stock Giveaway From ‘Good Morning America’ Real? 4.5 Million Shares Hoax Dupes FB Users

Don’t fall for it! The holidays are a time for believing, but the recent claim that Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg is giving away millions of shares is false. Thousands of social media users were duped over Christmas after the stock giveaway story apparently appeared on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”

Sorry, everyone. Just because a hoax claims it was on the news doesn’t mean it really was. What “GMA” did report is that Zuckerberg planned to donate $45 billion to charity, ABC News reported Monday.

The hoax started at the beginning of December but went viral over the holiday weekend. There are different versions. One reads:

“Can't wait to see who the winners are tonight. Facebook Mark Zuckerberg is going to give away 4.5 million shares of his Facebook stock tonight at midnight; 10% to people like you and me! All you have to do is copy and paste this to your page and post. Facebook is doing this to show what a powerful tool of connection it is !!! Can't wait to see who wins !!! This is not a hoax !!! It's on Good Morning America !!! Good luck everyone....”

Though the company slammed the bogus story, it continues to get shared. "Friends don't let friends copy and paste memes. While Priscilla and Mark's pledge to give money to improve the world is real, not everything you read on the internet is, and they're not giving it away randomly. Be safe out there, sweepstakes seekers," the post reads.

Some FB users took the opportunity to make fun of their gullible friends. There’s a meme of a unicorn that has gone viral making fun of the phony claim. “Mark Zuckerberg is giving away a magical unicorn if you post this picture,” it says.