In March 2020, Facebook posts circulating online offered free coupons supposedly good for two free Big Mac Meals for a month from outlets of the McDonald’s fast food chain:
Mac for a match is back! You could score yourself a free Big Mac, thanks to McDonald's. The 2019 AFL season is almost here, and you could score yourself a free Big Mac, thanks to McDonald's. The rules are simple: if we win, you win. Any home game won by Freo means members can take home a free Big Mac the following Monday – lunch sorted. Mcdonald's Big Mac Special Promotion - 08/2021. 100% off (10 days ago) Mcdonald's Big Mac Special Promotion can offer you many choices to save money thanks to 14 active results. You can get the best discount of up to 100% off.
Users who clicked on the offer were taken to an external website where they were instructed to answer survey questions in order to receive their coupons:
After completing the questionnaire, however, users were then required to click a button to share the “offer” with their Facebook friends before they could retrieve their coupons. Those who complied by spamming their friends were then allowed to click a “Receive the Coupon” button, but there was no actual coupon to receive.
Like innumerable other “free merchandise” offers on Facebook (including previous examples targeting McDonald’s customers), this offer was a common form of scam.
We’ve had many occasions to alert readers to this kind of fraud:
Big Mac Guy
These types of viral “coupon” scams often involve websites and social media pages set up to mimic those of legitimate companies. Users who respond to those fake offers are required to share a website link or social media post in order to spread the scam more widely and lure in additional victims. Then those users are presented with a “survey” that extracts personal information such as email addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, and even sometimes credit card numbers. Finally, those who want to claim their “free” gift cards or coupons eventually learn they must first sign up to purchase a number of costly goods, services, or subscriptions.
The Better Business Bureau offers consumers several general tips to avoid getting scammed:
Mcdonald's Free Big Mac Cardinals
- Don’t believe what you see. It’s easy to steal the colors, logos, and header of any other established organization. Scammers can also make links look like they lead to legitimate websites and emails appear to come from a different sender.
- Legitimate businesses do not ask for credit card numbers or banking information for coupons or giveaways. If they do ask for personal information, like an address or email, be sure there’s a link to their privacy policy.
- When in doubt, do a quick web search. If the giveaway is a scam, this is likely to reveal an alert or bring you to the organization’s real website, where they may have posted further information.
- Watch out for a reward that’s too good to be true. Businesses typically give out small discounts to entice customers. If the offer seems too good to be true (a $100 voucher or 50% discount) it may be a scam.
- Look for a mismatched subject line and email body. Many of these scams have an email subject line promising one thing, but the content of the email is something completely different.