Scams abound on Facebook, and one of the most common types of scams claims that a company will give everyone who “Likes” and/or “Shares” a post a valuable freebie.
There’s a very dangerous recurring scam of this type making the rounds again, and it involves the Kroger grocery store chain.
As usual there are several variations of this scam, but the one being shared most often claims that Kroger will give you a free $50 coupon just for “Sharing” the post.
These posts usually include this photo of a Kroger check:
Looks pretty enticing, right?
Well, there are several clues that tell us right away that this is a scam:
1 – Although the post says you’ll receive a $50 coupon for “Sharing” it, the photo itself is of a check. And as we all know, a coupon and a check are two very different things.
Kroger would never make such a glaring error in a legitimate promotional post.
2 – The Kroger company would have to file for bankruptcy if they were to give $50 to every Facebook user that takes the bait and “Shares” these posts since they have already been shared hundreds of millions of times.
3 – This giveaway “offer” wasn’t originally posted by the official Kroger Facebook page.
I’ve seen some people comment that it can’t hurt to share these giveaway posts “just in case”, but the truth is these are extremely malicious and dangerous posts.
Anyone who happens to click on the photo of the check will be taken to a fake web page that contains a short survey.
Depending on the device you’re using, answering the survey by clicking on either “Yes” or “No” could result in malware being downloaded onto your computer, phone or tablet.
And even worse, the fake Kroger web pages being linked to by some of the scam posts will provide a form for you to enter your personal and financial info as a way to verify your identity.
If you happen to enter your info on one of these pages you’ll be handing that sensitive info over to a scammer who will use it to steal your identity and/or clean out your bank or credit card account.
Bottom line: If you see one of these fake Kroger coupon giveaways land in your Facebook Newsfeed, don’t click on it, don’t “Like” it, and don’t “Share” it.
And whatever you do don’t answer any questions in the fake survey!
If you have already clicked on the photo and answered the survey I strongly recommend that you run a thorough series of malware scans on your computer or install an antivirus app on your Android device.