Reports indicate that a new scam on Facebook has been spreading like wildfire. The scam titled – “Eat at McDonalds for FREE! (limited time only)” has been circulating across the social network with the following message – “McDonalds is currently giving away free meal vouchers to all Facebook users!”
This is a fake message spreading on Facebook and there is no free meal vouchers given away to any users on the site. Clicking the post link will take you to a bogus Web page, which appears as shown below -
You’re asked to update your Facebook status with the same message, after which you will be asked to add a comment stating, “I’m loving it.” Once done, the page redirects to another page where you will find a list of online surveys waiting for you to be completed. Completing these surveys will yield you nothing and at the end of it, there are no “free” vouchers given.
Scammers generally create such messages in order to trick or force Facebook users into sharing the website link, thus inviting other users to fall for the trap. Scammers earn commission by getting users to complete online surveys. Sometimes, you’re asked to enter your personal details and sensitive information, which could be possibly misused by the scammers.
Please don’t be tricked by such scams and DO NOT complete any online surveys. Most of the times, 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.
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.
Bookmark Techie Buzz Facebook Scams. We always keep you updated with the latest scams spreading on Facebook.
