According to a post currently hitting Facebook News Feeds, US home improvement store chain Lowe’s is giving everyone who shares a link a coupon worth $150.
Supposedly, the giveaway is to celebrate the company’s anniversary.
The post features the Lowe’s logo along with an image supposedly depicting one of the $150 coupons. However, the post is fraudulent and has no connection to Lowe’s. No amount of sharing will get you one of the promised coupons. In fact, no coupons are being given away at all.
The post is a typical Facebook giveaway scam designed to trick you into giving your personal details to dodgy “survey” and “offer” websites.
If you click the post, you will be taken to a website that supposedly allows you to claim your voucher. You will be first asked to answer a few questions about your previous experience with Lowe’s. The site will then pretend to check your answers and then announce you as a winner. In fact, all visitors are told that they have won, regardless of which answers they provide.
Next, you will be prompted to click a button to share the page on Facebook. This ensures that the scam post continues to spread, gaining many new victims as it travels across the network.
After sharing, you will be instructed to click a button labelled ‘Receive the Voucher”. But, instead of being taken to a page where you can claim your coupon, you will instead be taken to a suspect website that promises the chance to win further prizes in exchange for entering your name and contact details.
The site will share your information with marketing companies who will inundate you with unwanted phone calls, emails, and text messages promoting various dodgy products and services.
And, even after sharing on Facebook and providing your details on one of the linked websites, you will still not get to claim your $150 Lowe’s coupon. There ARE no coupons.
Anniversary giveaway scams like this are very common on Facebook.
A screenshot of the scam post:
Transcript:
Lowes has announced that everyone who shares this link will be sent a $150 coupon for its anniversary. TODAY ONLY.
A screenshot of the scam website:
