Creating fake Walmart giveaway or gift card campaigns is a favorite tactic by scammers. Recently, a new round of scams has been spreading on Facebook — and readers are advised to be on the lookout. Walmart giveaway scams typically involve scammers posing as Walmart, or third-party representatives via Facebook pages, and informing individuals that they have won a prize or gift card from the company.

Below are recent suspicious examples from Facebook.

The Gift (Walmart Bag) Scam on Facebook

Watch out for the following wording in Facebook posts:

• “𝖳𝗁𝖾 𝗀𝗂𝖿𝗍 (𝖶𝖺𝗅𝗆𝖺𝗋𝗍 𝖻𝖺𝗀) 𝗂𝗌 𝗄𝗇𝗈𝖼𝗄𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗈𝗇 𝗒𝗈𝗎𝗋 𝖽𝗈𝗈𝗋 𝗍𝗈𝗆𝗈𝗋𝗋𝗈𝗐 𝖩𝗎𝗌𝗍 𝗉𝗎𝗍 𝖣𝗈𝗇𝖾, 𝖭𝗈 𝗌𝖼𝖺𝗆.. 𝖳𝗁𝗂𝗌 𝗂𝗌 𝗋𝖾𝖺𝗅”
• “… Just put [YES ] , No scam.. This is real”
• “Get Your 2 Walmart Gift Card.. Click this link, Submit your Gmail & Zip code to get your gift. Quickly Click here”

Walmart Giveaway Scams

The scammers use various tactics to trick people into providing personal information, money, or both. Common characteristics include:

1. Fake notifications: victims might receive unsolicited emails, texts, or phone calls claiming they have won a prize or gift from Walmart. Watch out for grammatical errors and strange layout.
2. Claiming the prize: the scammers inform the victim that they have won a prize, such as a gift card, money, or a high-value item. This is the lure to engage the would-be victim.
3. Personal info needed: to claim the prize, the victim is asked to provide personal information. Scammers can use this information for identity theft.
4. Payment demands: often, scammers will ask for payment or fees upfront, claiming it’s necessary for processing or delivering the prize.
5. Social engineering tactics: scammers often use urgency and pressure tactics by claiming that the prize is time-sensitive or that the victim must act quickly to claim it.

The Gift (Walmart Bag) Scam on Facebook

This year, a study found that Walmart was the brand most commonly used in phishing scams, with a noteworthy 16%, followed by DHL at 13%:

• Walmart (16%)
• DHL (13%)
• Microsoft (12%)
• LinkedIn (6%)
• FedEx (4.9%)
• Google (4.8%)
• Netflix (4%)
• Raiffeisen (3.6%)
• PayPal (3.5%)

In our scam research here at Trend Micro, these figures are very much aligned. Walmart scams are tricky because the company does indeed carry out legitimiate giveaway campaigns, lending an air of credibility to the scams. For advice and information from Walmart, head over here. In their own words:

“Walmart offers a survey, located at survey.walmart.com, from invitations appearing on receipts in our stores. Customers are offered entry to the survey through register receipts or emails from our survey team […] You also may receive Walmart surveys related to other services that you use, such as Online Grocery or Pharmacy […]

“Winners are notified via phone and certified mail. Gift cards are not given away through Twitter, Facebook, or text message. If you receive a notice through one of these channels, it is likely a scam.”

Safety Tips

• Verify: only send money to people and brands you trust.
• Beware of too-good deals: if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
• Guard against scams: be cautious of unsolicited texts, emails, and calls. Walmart won’t ask for personal information via text.
• Secure your accounts: set up two-factor authentication for an added layer of security.
• Privacy settings: review and adjust your privacy settings on all accounts held.

Protecting Your Identity and Personal Info

Compromised personal data can have serious consequences, including identity theft, financial fraud, and job losses. The best thing you can do is a) have reliable cybersecurity protection, and b) ensure you will find out ASAP in the event of being affected. We would encourage readers to head over to our new ID Protection platform, which has been designed to meet these challenges.

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Why not give it a go today? As always, we hope this article has been an interesting and/or useful read. If so, please do SHARE it with family and friends to help keep the online community secure and informed — and consider leaving a like or comment below.