Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Is Walgreens Giving Away $50 Gift Cards to Facebook Users? No, it’s Just a Survey Scam

Surprise! Cybercrooks have set up yet another survey scam.

This time they’re preying on gullible Facebook users that hope they’ll be one of the “lucky 10,000 users “that earn themselves a $50 gift card to Walgreens.

Walgreens Gift Card Scam Spam Message



Get 1 F.R.E.E Walgreens Gift Card! (limited time only)
CLICK HERE & CLAIM NOW
wal.com.s3-website-us-east-1.amazonaws.com
Walgreens is currently giving away 1 gift card to 10,000 lucky Facebook users!

Like most survey scams, the first thing that the scammer wants you to do is share the scam with your Facebook pals by posting it to your profile and liking the page.

Walgreens Gift Card Scam Spread the Wealth


Once you’ve done that, you’ll be redirected to another website (net.bestprizepanel.com) that requests that you complete a short questionnaire to see if you “qualify” for the prize ($50 gift card to Walgreens).

Walgreens Gift Card Scam QuestionnaireOf course, they’re going to tell you that you qualify because that’s the only way they can sucker you into handing over your personal information – including your full name, physical address, email, date of birth & two phone numbers – and convince you to complete multiple “reward offers” that often require you to take out a personal loan, open a credit card, or sign up for some paid subscription service that you don’t need.

By the end of the day, you’ll have shelled out far more than the $50 Walgreens gift card was worth – and that’s assuming that they stick by their promise to give it to you.

More often than not, your personal information will be sold off to the highest bidder and that’s if the scammer doesn’t decide to just keep a detail or two in order to commit identity fraud.

How to Deal with the Walgreens Gift Card Survey Scam

  • If you come across this scam on Facebook then do not follow the links, share the page or provide any personal information.

  • If you’ve shared this scam, remove any Facebook wall posts and like history from your profile and news feed.

  • If you see a friend spreading this scam, let them know that it is a scam and advise them to remove any wall posts.

  • If you or someone you know has fallen for this scam and provided personal information, be sure to keep an eye out for future scams that may arrive via email or snail mail. Keep a close eye for any suspicious activity related to possible identity theft and watch your phone bill for evidence of your number being registered for SMS subscription services.


Remember that cybercriminals often use social networks in order to spread their survey scams. So if you come across similar offers or posts for free meal vouchers or gift cards, be sure to do some research and look out for any signs that it’s a scam.

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