It saddens me that people still succumb to what I perceive as rather obvious scams on Facebook -this time round it is Asda’s turn to apparently give away £500 to anyone who simply re-posts the supposed voucher. There’s a chance you will have already seen it but if not… All you have to apparently do is repost and like an Asda Facebook post of a £500 voucher, and for doing that alone it will entitle you to that amount to spend in an Asda store.
Once you repost it you are invited to fill out your personal details, presumably in order that the voucher can be sent to you. However, this scheme is nothing to do with Asda and you won’t be receiving any vouchers. Instead, the scheme is a scam designed to lure people in to handing over their contact details, which are then sold. This can include to premium rate mobile phone subscription services which will incur hefty charges on your phone bill.
So, by simply signing up to a supposed free giveaway you are not only opening yourself up to unwanted marketing but also the possibility of being ripped off for actual money – hardly the generous £500 supermarket shopping that you were banking on. But then again, did you really think that you would get so very much for doing so very little? Getting free advertising and promotion on social media by its users is certainly worth a lot to business but £500 per head? I don’t think so.
In which case when you next see something that looks too good to be true, remind yourself that it probably is. What are they getting from you and what are you realistically going to get in return? This shouldn’t stop you from re-posting small giveaways that are often touted by smaller businesses – this is a form of advertising that is actually affordable for them and is a way of assisting small business over large corporates. Do question the likelihood of anything you see though. Ultimately it’s best to stick with the old adage – if in doubt, chicken out.