According to a message currently being distributed on Facebook, US-based retailer The Home Depot is giving away coupons worth $200 each.
The message features an image depicting such a coupon and invites you to click to get your own
However, the message has no connection to The Home Depot and the claim that $200 coupons are being given away is a lie. There are no free coupons and no winners. The message is a typical survey scam.
If you click the link in the message, you will be taken to a fake Facebook page that claims that you must first share the page on Facebook and then add a comment before you can get your coupon (see screenshot below). By sharing and commenting, you are promoting the scam message to your Facebook friends, and thereby ensuring that the scammers gain even more victims.
After you share and comment as instructed, you can then click a ‘Get Your Coupon’ link. However, you will still not receive the promised coupon. Instead, you will be taken to a third-party website that claims that you can win further prizes by entering your name and contact information and participating in a survey or offer.
However, fine print on the page will note that, by entering, you are giving permission for your name and contact details to be shared with ‘sponsors’. Thus, you may soon begin receiving unwanted and annoying phone calls, emails, and surface letters from various third-party marketers.
In some cases, you may be asked to provide your mobile phone number. However, by submitting your number, you will actually be subscribing to an expensive SMS ‘club’ that will charge you several dollars for every text message they send you.
Meanwhile, the scammers who created the bogus Home Depot coupon giveaway scheme will be rewarded with affiliate commissions each and every time somebody participates in a survey or offer.
And, alas, no matter how many surveys or offers you complete, you will never get to claim your free coupon, which never existed to begin with.
Survey scams like this one continue to be very common on Facebook. Be very wary of any supposed giveaway that claims that you must first like, share, or comment, and then participate in third-party surveys before you can claim a promised prize.
Screenshot of the scam post:
Screenshot of the scam website:
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
