According to a post that is circulating rapidly on Facebook, Adidas is giving free shoes to everyone as a means of celebrating its birthday. The post urges you to click to get your shoes while supplies last.
However, no Adidas shoes are being given away and the post has no association with the company. This is just one more in a seemingly endless parade of Facebook scams that promise various freebies in exchange for spamming your friends and supplying your personal information via dodgy survey websites.
If you click the bogus post, you will be taken to a fraudulent webpage designed to look like it is part of Facebook. Once on the fake page, you will be asked to share it on Facebook and then send a page link to five of your Facebook Groups. By completing these ‘2 simple steps’, you promote the fraudulent giveaway on behalf of the scammers and expose your Facebook friends and fellow group members to the scam.
Even after completing the steps as requested, you will still not get to claim the promised shoes. Instead, a popup window will appear that claims that before getting your giveaway, you must first complete a survey as a ‘final step’ in your entry process. The popup will feature links to various survey websites.
The linked sites will offer the chance to win further prizes in exchange for filling in surveys and supplying your name, phone numbers, home address and email address. But, the information you provide will be shared with third party marketing companies. Fine print on the page will explain that, by participating, you are in fact giving permission for these companies to contact you. Therefore, soon after participating, you will begin receiving marketing messages for various products and services via email, surface mail, phone, and SMS.
And, no matter how many surveys you complete, you will never get to claim your Adidas shoes.
Each and every time that somebody supplies their information via one of the survey sites, the scammers will earn a commission.
Don’t get caught by these scams. Do not participate in any supposed giveaway in which you are told you must share and like the promotional material and participate in surveys before you can claim the promised prize.
Examples
2019 Version:
2016 Version:
Adidas is giving away free Shoes to EVERYONE to celebrate its birthday!Get your Adidas Shoes now while supplies last!
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Brett Christensen
