S
Sean Camara
Guest
Woolworths warns customers about new ‘giveaway promo’ Facebook scam
It is no secret that scammers are constantly looking for new ways to take advantage of unsuspecting people, and the latest attempt to impersonate supermarket giant Woolworths is a perfect example of this.
The latest scam involves a fake Facebook page offering shoppers the chance to receive a free box of groceries if they share a post on the social media platform.
The now-deleted Facebook post that lured thousands of users to share it, prompting many to believe it was legitimate. Credit: Facebook.
The now-deleted post, which featured a photo of Woolworths CEO Brad Banducci and an image of what seems to be packages filled with groceries, read: “To celebrate our 110th Birthday, Every single person who shares and comments by 11pm April 28th will get one of these Big Food Box delivered straight to their door on Saturday 30th April. Limit 1 Food box per person.”
It should be noted that the retailer was founded in September 1924, meaning the claim about the company's birthday is definitely false.
Close to 9400 people have fallen for the scam so far, with the images being posted by an unverified page called 'Woolworths store'.
The page was only created on April 26, 2022, yet it has managed to gain 315 followers - a fraction of the 1.2 million that follow the official Woolworths Facebook page.
A similar scheme has also been circulating on the social media platform where it was claimed that the supermarket giant is giving away $250 vouchers to celebrate its birthday.
A similar scheme circulated online. Credit: Facebook.
It was said that the post urges users to click on a link and share the post in five Facebook groups.
However, the post is a scam and clicking on the link will take users to a fake website that is designed to collect personal information.
Woolworths has since issued a statement, stating that the posts are not affiliated with the company and assuring customers that they are working with Facebook to have the fake page taken down.
A spokesperson said: “Social media scams seek to imitate well-known brands to collect personal information, however, we would never ask our customers for their personal or banking details in unsolicited communications.”
The company also updated its Scam Alerts page with details about the new Facebook scheme.
Customers are encouraged to contact Woolworths via email at [email protected] to confirm whether posts or messages bearing the retailer's name are legitimate.
Make sure to keep an eye out for these scamming schemes out there, folks! We encourage you to check SDC’s Scam Watch page for the latest scams so you can avoid falling victim to them.
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