There are so many scams floating around on the internet. Most of us know which ones to avoid, but every so often we need a gentle warning about a new scam that has popped up. And there is one bogus free grocery “offer” that has the international grocery chain Aldi telling people to watch out.
According to Cincinnati.com, at the end of last month there was a Facebook post from an account pretending to be affiliated with the grocery chain Aldi. It claimed that anyone who shared the post before 6:00 p.m. that day and registered through the link provided would be receiving $100 worth of free groceries from the grocery chain. This fake offer, which was posted to various Facebook groups in Cincinnati, Ohio, quickly caught the attention of Aldi USA.
The supermarket was quick to step in and squash any misinformation by posting a response to their official Facebook page which stated, “Hey ALDI fans! Looks like another Facebook scam is making its way around. We can confirm it is a scam and the page has no affiliation with ALDI. We’re sorry for any confusion this may have caused! We have been working with Facebook since yesterday to get the page taken down, but we’d love your help! Please share this post to help us spread the word and always be sure to look for the blue checkmark by our name for authenticity!”
Hey ALDI fans! Looks like another Facebook scam is making its way around. We can confirm it is a scam and the page has…
Posted by ALDI USA on Sunday, November 29, 2020
Sadly, as quick as they were, there were already so many unsuspecting Facebook users who had fallen prey to the scam before Aldi could set the record straight. It only took a few hours for more than 644,000 people to share the scam site along with the registration link.
And worse still is that this isn’t the only scam out there like it. According to The Kansas City Star there had been another Aldi-centered scam on Facebook. This one was a promotional post that pretended to be from Jason Hart, the CEO of Aldi Inc. The fake posting stated that as a celebration of the store’s 75th birthday, they would be delivering a Christmas Food Box by the 30th of November to every person who “shares and comments by 6 PM Sunday.”
In response to these scams that seem to be popping up, Aldi has reminded the public the importance of checking for the blue checkmark beside their name on social media in order to ensure authenticity. This is good advice to follow for any promotional post on social media. Also, don’t click on any links or reshare any posts if you’re unsure. If you have any doubts, just get in touch directly with the company through their official account in order to confirm the offer is, indeed, a real promotion.
Unfortunately, this is the perfect example of how dire the situation is at present because of the pandemic. Due to high rates of unemployment, people are now finding it difficult to feed their families – something that makes these scams particularly disgusting as they’re exploiting this level of desperation. Have you come across any of these scams? Let us know!