According to a post currently being shared on Facebook, UK supermarket chain Sainsbury’s is giving three lucky families the “amazing gift of an entire year of free groceries” to celebrate Christmas.
The post claims that for a chance to win you only need to share and comment before a specified date and time.
However, the post and the Facebook Page that published it are fraudulent. The post has no connection with Sainsbury’s and those who participate have no chance whatsoever of winning a year of free groceries or any other prize.
In fact, the post is a typical Facebook like-farming scam designed to gather likes and shares, thereby increasing the popularity of the fake Facebook Page.
Once the page has accumulated a large number of followers, the scammers can use it to distribute survey scams and other types of fraudulent activity, this time to a much larger pool of potential victims.
Alternatively, the page may be sold on the black market to other scammers who will repurpose it to fit their own nefarious goals.
Note that the genuine Sainsbury’s Facebook Page, which features Facebook’s blue verified icon to prove its authenticity, makes no mention of the supposed grocery giveaway.
Giveaway scams like this are very common on Facebook. Don’t help the scammers who run them by participating.
Read More about Facebook Like-Farming Scams
A screenshot of the scam post:
Transcript:
To celebrate Christmas this year we are giving the amazing gift of an entire year of free groceries to three lucky families that share/comment by 12:30 Saturday! Best of luck to everyone and Happy Holidays.
Importance Notice
After considerable thought and with an ache in my heart, I have decided that the time has come to close down the Hoax-Slayer website.These days, the site does not generate enough revenue to cover expenses, and I do not have the financial resources to sustain it going forward.
Moreover, I now work long hours in a full-time and physically taxing job, so maintaining and managing the website and publishing new material has become difficult for me.
And finally, after 18 years of writing about scams and hoaxes, I feel that it is time for me to take my fingers off the keyboard and focus on other projects and pastimes.
When I first started Hoax-Slayer, I never dreamed that I would still be working on the project all these years later or that it would become such an important part of my life. It's been a fantastic and engaging experience and one that I will always treasure.
I hope that my work over the years has helped to make the Internet a little safer and thwarted the activities of at least a few scammers and malicious pranksters.
A Big Thank You
I would also like to thank all of those wonderful people who have supported the project by sharing information from the site, contributing examples of scams and hoaxes, offering suggestions, donating funds, or helping behind the scenes.I would especially like to thank David White for his tireless contribution to the Hoax-Slayer Facebook Page over many years. David's support has been invaluable, and I can not thank him enough.
Closing Date
Hoax-Slayer will still be around for a few weeks while I wind things down. The site will go offline on May 31, 2021. While I will not be publishing any new posts, you can still access existing material on the site until the date of closure.Thank you, one and all!
Brett Christensen,
Hoax-Slayer
