Facebook users targeted with new Tesco voucher scam
Fake Tesco voucher offers are circulating on Facebook, Which? warns.
This tempting scam, which first appeared during last year's lockdowns, has resurfaced amid the rising cost of food.
Find out how to spot, avoid and report this scam.
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Fake Tesco voucher
The fake 'Tesco Fans' page was created on the 22 July and uses the official Tesco logo as a profile picture.
Alongside images of groceries, the post states:
‘With the cost of living going through the roof we thought we want to help out this summer, so we will be sending each person who shares & comments by July 26th one of the boxes delivered next day.
‘Each box of full of essential groceries worth £40. We’re also placing a £500 voucher in 90 boxes.’
This fake offer has now disappeared, but a new one has appeared on this page that has already gained over 3,000 likes, almost 7,000 comments and 15,000 shares - showing just how quickly these tempting scams can escalate.
Which? spoke to Facebook users who'd responded to the fake offer and they confirmed that they didn’t receive any grocery box or voucher.
Spotting fake offers
This scam has a couple of giveaways to help you spot the scam.
Firstly, the fake Facebook page 'Tesco fans' doesn't have the blue tick badge to confirm the page is verified by Facebook. The posts are also poorly written.
Lots of these scams work by asking you to comment and share the post, the scammer will then often respond with a link to a dodgy website. If you're being asked to go to another website to share details - personal or financial - then it's almost certainly a scam.
A Tesco spokesperson told Which?:
‘Tesco UK only has one Facebook page - facebook.com/Tesco. Any other page is potentially a scam and social media users should not click on them.
‘Our social media scams page [on its website] provides some helpful tips on how to spot and avoid scams online.’
Tesco also confirmed that it has reported the page offering free Tesco vouchers and it does not run free Tesco vouchers competitions on Facebook.
Reporting social media scams
If you see posts like this on Facebook, click on the top right-hand corner of the post and select ‘Report post.’
If you think you could have given money or personal details away to a scammer, make sure to contact your bank straight away, you should also report the scam to Action Fraud or the police if you live in Scotland.
If you've lost money to a scam and you aren’t refunded by your bank, you can escalate a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
- Find out more about how to get your money back from a scam
