It might seem like a great deal. Getting a $50 coupon to Lowe's Home Improvement stores in exchange for answering a few questions.
But it turns out the whole offer is a scam.
Lowe's told Facebook users on Monday that an offer circulating the social networking site is not from Lowe's.
"The coupon is not affiliated with Lowe's in any way. It is a phishing scam. Please be careful," Lowe's said.
It appears that the false Facebook offer directs users to a site that collects personal information. While the coupon appears to be legit, it will not be accepted by Lowe's.
The Better Business Bureau has issued five tipson how to avoid online scams:
- 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.
Justin Boggs is a writer for the E.W. Scripps National Desk.Follow him on Twitter @jjboggs or on Facebook.
