Many Walmart shoppers got up in arms when they saw this: “Walmart is offering $75 anniversary coupon to social media users for filling out an online survey”.

If that sounds too good to be true is because it is. This ad showed up on Facebook and was immediately celebrated by many and tried immediately. This is how it works:

• Customers click on the ad banner
• They are taken to an external website with survey questions
• Once all the questions are answered, they are instructed to share this coupon with friends on social media
• Once you go on and spam your friends, you can click on coupon button
• Once you click on it, you see that there is no actual coupon to be received

This type of scam is not the first, nor will it be the last. This scam method of offering fake freebies is very popular and Walmart, along with other big box retailers, has been affected before.

What are those coupon scams?

Those kinds of viral coupons are posted on social media and affect retail websites, which are mimicked. Many users believe in such offers and spread tem by sharing with friends in order to get the promised prize. We see so many various ads these days that coupons like that seem perfectly believable and can fool anybody.

Unwillingly people spread the scam and create additional victims. The information extracted via the surveys often include names, addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth, and sometimes even credit card numbers. This is why such scams are not innocent, but in fact very dangerous. Finally, in order to claim the free gift or coupon, users see that they have to buy all kinds of products or services and realize that the deal was fake too late.

In reality, Walmart did celebrate its 57th anniversary this year, in July. While it did have some nice sales going at that time, no $75 or any other such coupon was posted or commissioned by Walmart.

Walmart Discounts:

• $10 OFF Purchases of $50 or more with code WOWFRESH
• $10 OFF Your First 3 Orders when use code FAMECARS

This is what BBB advises for all consumers to help avoid such scams in the future and to protect one’s privacy rights:

• Don’t always believe what you see, because it is very easy to steal logos, colors, and company markings. Take every advertisement, especially crazy good one, with a grain of salt and be vigilant.
• Look for grammatical mistakes in the text
• Mouse over the link and see if the entire address looks legit or is it a third party link
• The sender of an email and the website of the deal have to be the same
• No legitimate business will ask for your banking information or credit card number via emails, coupons, or giveaways.

• If they are asking for any personal information, make sure you can see their Privacy Policy page, and read it.
• If you have even the smallest doubt, research the deal on Google, because scams get exposed and posted pretty fast.
• Go to the website of the organization that is posting the offer to verify its legitimacy.
• Always think if an offered reward makes any sense or is it too good to be true? If you see $100 off or 50% off expensive products, stop and do some research before proceeding.
• Check for mismatched subject line and the rest of email body as sometimes those both areas are talking about different things.