A new scam is underway on Facebook with the title – “Take the Free $1,000 Walmart Gift Card Survey! [link]“, tricking users to click on the link and take an online survey in order to receive a free gift card. The scam also asks users to share the message with their friends in order to qualify for the prize, and that’s how the scam is being spread on the social network.
The scam message comes with a description that reads – “Get A Free $1,000 Walmart Gift Card”. By looking at the title of the scam message, we observe that you are asked to complete an online survey. Please be cautious that this is a scam and there is no such gift cards given away for free even after you have honestly completed the survey.
Clicking the scam link will take you to the following web page –
There are questions which you are asked to answer. After you have answered the questions, you will be redirected to another web page where you will be asked to answer another set of online surveys.
Please don’t get tricked by the web page and DO NOT complete any surveys. In the online survey you will be asked to answer a set of questions, after which you need to enter your personal information as well as financial details like credit card number or bank account number. Entering these details will pose serious threats to your accounts, so please avoid entering your credentials.
Sometimes it may result in downloading malware programs or other malicious files, which could possibly harm your computer. These files are programmed in a way to steal your personal and confidential information without your knowledge.
It is recommended that you DO NOT click on such links or
scam messages on Facebook. If you come across this scam message, please delete/remove the scam from your Facebook news feed immediately. Alternately, you can report the scam to
Facebook Security.
With over 800 million users on Facebook, the social networking giant has always been a main target for spreading scams. It is quite difficult to identify scams on Facebook. Here is a post on How to Identify and Avoid Facebook Scams.
As a precautionary measure, always check which applications you use and remove unwanted or suspicious ones. If you aren’t sure how to do it, you can always check our guide on removing apps from Facebook. In addition to that, don’t forget to check out our article about Avoiding Facebook Lifejacking and Clickjacking scams.
