Fake offers and Scams are as old as the internet itself. From Microsoft, to Amazon, to Actor Tyler Perry, if you are popular or famous you have been used by scammers to try to trick unsuspecting people. The latest scam involves a fake coupon going around Facebook for a $150 coupon from Dollar General. In today’s post we will break down the dollar general coupon scam. Scam Alert: Fake Coupon Dollar General
For starters, one of the versions of the coupon looks like the picture (above on this post), however that isn’t the only version as the scam itself is perpetrated by more than one scammer at the same time. In the case of this coupon, it says in the fine print that the coupon is to “Celebrate 135 years of service”. Here is the history of Dollar General
About Dollar General
- The company first began in 1939 as a family owned business called J.L. Turner and Son in Scottsville, Kentucky by James Luther Turner and Cal Turner. In 1968 the name changed to Dollar General Corporation
If Dollar General was 135 years old, it would have started in 1883 NOT 1939.
What Happens If You Click On The Offer
So, what happens if you click on the coupon? Again, there are a couple of versions of what happens, but the most common is the following.
Step 1
- You will get a message on your Facebook that looks something like this. Telling you that Dollar General is providing each family with FREE $150 off Coupon. Once you click the message, you will be taken to a website.
Step 2
- The site that opens will have official looking logo’s and appear legit, except the website link will NOT be the actual website for the company. On the site you will get asked a couple of questions, in this case 3.
Step 3
- At this point, the scammers feel they have gained your trust, so they will ask you to “share” their fake site on FB or ask you to give your details (like name, address, phone number). If you share and like the scammers page, what in fact you are doing is giving them access (permission) to your FB account. If you get prompted to give your details (like your phone number), you are also giving them the way in to get to you. How many calls about “your car warranty is about to expire” have you gotten?
Funny Part Of The FB Page / Website
The part of the FB page / website that I find the funniest involves the comments that seem to come constantly, making you believe that everyone else is benefitting from this offer, why shouldn’t you? Well that is just part of the social engineering being done by the scammer. The more they can make you believe it, the more chance you will fall for it.
Let’s review just one of the comments. The comment listed from Eunice Garza, where he thanks Dollar General. Again, scammers want you to believe others are benefitting.
However, if you look at the “geek” on the page, which is called CSS/HTML his picture comes from a site called randomuser (I won’t be adding the link here as I do NOT wish to give their site legitimacy)
And if you go to the website listed in the code, it takes you to a website that is designed to create “fake” users that you can then use on your websites.
What If You Already Clicked And Liked The Fake Coupon Site
So, what if you didn’t know any better (which you should if you visit Tech Geek and More, Just sayin), and you clicked and liked the fake FB page. At this point, in Facebook, you should go to settings -> Apps and Websites -> and check what is listed under active.
You will want to see what you have listed under each tab and remove anything you don’t recognize.
Hope this helps, and oh by the way, remember when I listed Tyler Perry’s name being used to scam people. Here is the video that Tyler Perry had to post on Facebook to tell people he isn’t giving away money in any contest and asking people NOT to fall for the scam using his name.
Source(s)
- Facebook – Listing the Dollar General Scam (Not giving link, as we don’t want to give scammer legitimacy)
- Wikipedia – Dollar General Company History
- Facebook – Tyler Perry Video
