Fact Check: Marks and Spencer is not giving away Rs. 6,000; viral message is a hoax
A link that claims to be from Marks & Spencer is going viral on WhatsApp. The message claims that the retail company is hosting a Christmas lucky draw where participants would get a chance to win Rs. 6,000.
By Newsmeter Network Published on 17 Dec 2021 4:15 AM GMT
Hyderabad: A link that claims to be from Marks & Spencer is going viral on WhatsApp. The message claims that the retail company is hosting a Christmas lucky draw where participants would get a chance to win Rs. 6,000.
The website says, "Marks & Spencer Christmas gift! Through the questionnaire, you will have a chance to get 6000 Rupee (sic)."
Fact Check
The viral link leads to an unrecognized webpage. The page is not the official website of Marks & Spencer. The questionnaire follows the pattern of a scam that has quite often been observed in such unauthentic links.
The NewsMeter fact-check team clicked on the viral link to check its authenticity and found that the webpage was a hoax. Upon answering the questions, the user is asked to select a gift box through which a winner is picked later. It should be noted that NewsMeter conducted several trials and noticed that at every trial a winner is selected at the second chance. This indicates that the link is fake as everyone wins every time.
The webpage also stores the user's IP address and asks the user to share the message on their WhatsApp groups. This is a common method used for hacking and stealing information from phones and laptops.
Marks and Spencer has made no such announcement to host a Christmas lucky draw where participants can win Rs. 6000.
Everyone is advised to refrain from clicking such dubious links and entering their personal details on such websites as it could lead to data theft.
Evidently, it is clear that the link is a hoax.
