There is yet another scam circulating on Facebook. Thousands of unsuspecting people have already shared the post from a fake Facebook Page called “Walmart Groceries” or clicked on a link in the post to “verify” their entry into the fake sweepstakes.
Sapulpa Times reached out to the Walmart corporate office to confirm this was not a legitimate offer. Rebecca Thomason, who works in Walmart media relations, assured Sapulpa Times that this was a scam. Thomason also stated that Walmart was unaware of this new scam, and she was turning the matter over to Walmart’s cyber fraud department.
The fake post states, “To help our loyal customers, we are going to select 100 lucky families who can shop as much as they could for up to one hour and we will cover all the costs!”
The victim is then directed to click on a hyperlink which instructs the claimant to fill out out a quiz. Upon completion, the claimant is directed to another website that asks another quiz, then asks for an email address to register for a $250 gift card, NOT a one-hour shopping spree.
These types of scams are typical “phishing’ scams. A phishing scam offers money or goods, in return for simply answering a few questions, and providing personal information.
There are many variations, and they all purport to be offers from legitimate businesses, such as Lowes, Krogers, Walmart, etc.
Remember, if it too good to be true, it probably is. Never share such an offer or click on any links until you contact the business in question to verify that the offer is legitimate.
