Beware: FB pages Target Fans, Walmart Fans are running scams

Hyderabad: A screenshot of a post by the Facebook page, Target Fans, is doing the rounds of social media. The page offered to donate refrigerators and stoves to those who comment "Done" before 12 September.

The screenshot of the post shows photos of refrigerators and ovens along with the caption, "We are happy to announce that we will be donating 670 refrigerators and stoves that cannot be sold due to minor scratches and minor damage, all machines are working, so we will randomly send to someone who wrote, "Done". Before 12th.!!"

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Fact Check

NewsMeter ran a keyword search on Facebook and found several unverified pages like LG fans, Walmart fans, Elektra fans, and Target Fans that are posting similar images of refrigerators and making the same offer with the same caption. We also found many pages of Target Fans and Walmart Fans with identical names.

Along with the caption, several of these pages have URL links that ask people to provide personal details to avail of the offer. All these observations raised suspicion that these pages could be running scams.

We checked the verified pages of Target, Walmart (Retail Companies), and LG (Product and Service) and ran a keyword search on their pages but did not find any such offer. We also checked the verified page of Elektra and found that it was a musician's page.

Again, we ran a keyword search on Google and found a fact-check on Target fans and Walmart fans pages by international fact-checking website Snopes. According to the website, these pages host survey scams through giveaways/donations.

Snopes highlights that "sham surveys solicit personal or financial information, such as a credit card number to pay a shipping fee for your prize — something a legit survey will not do. They might trick you into signing up for a "free trial" offer that's actually a costly subscription for a dietary supplement or other product. Clicking on the link might also launch malware that can scrape sensitive data from your device. Either way, the scammers get the information they can use for identity theft or sell on to other bad actors. Some major retailers, including Amazon and Walmart, do offer gift cards as prizes for customers who complete online surveys about their shopping experience, but those companies say they will never ask participants to provide sensitive data."

Snopes also "strongly advise readers to never click any links in offers that seem too good to be true."

Hence, we can conclude that these pages are running scams. Please do not fall for them.