Outline:
Facebook post being shared across the network claims that you can click to get a free large pizza from Pizza Hut to celebrate the company’s 60th anniversary.
Brief Analysis:
The post is fraudulent and has no connection to Pizza Hut. Those who participate will not receive a free pizza. The post is a scam designed to trick people into spamming their friends and divulging their information via dodgy survey websites.
Detailed Analysis:
According to a post that is currently being shared across Facebook, you can click to get a free large pizza from Pizza Hut. Supposedly, the company is giving away the pizzas as a means of celebrating its 60th anniversary. The post features a graphic depicting a coupon for the free pizza along with the Pizza Hut logo.
However, the post is not associated with Pizza Hut in any way and those who click the link will never receive the promised pizza. The post is a scam that tries to trick users into sharing the same fraudulent material with their friends and providing their personal details on suspect survey sites.
If you click the post you will be taken to the fraudulent webpage shown in the following screenshot:
The page, which is designed to make visitors believe that it is part of Facebook, asks you to share the promotion on Facebook and then send a direct link to 15 of your Facebook friends. But, if you carry out these ‘2 simple steps’ as requested, you are just promoting the scam on behalf of the scammers and exposing your friends to their fraudulent activity.
And, even after you have finished spamming your friends, you still won’t get to claim the promised free pizza coupon. Instead, a popup window will appear that claims that you must first verify your entry by participating in one or more surveys. The window will contain a list of survey links for you to choose from.
The links lead to various websites that ask you to complete a brief survey and then supply your mobile phone number for a chance to win further prizes. However, legal clauses on the sites explain that, by providing your phone number, you are actually subscribing to very expensive SMS ‘services’ that will charge you several dollars for every message they send along with an initial joining fee. The SMS charges will continue until you unsubscribe from the service. These SMS subscriptions can quickly wrack up large bills or use all of your available credit and can sometimes be quite difficult to unsubscribe from.
In some cases, the links may open survey websites that ask you to supply, not only your phone numbers, but your name, home address, and email address as well. But, fine print on the pages will note that your information will be shared with site sponsors and third-party marketing firms. Thus, soon after participating, you will begin receiving unwanted phone calls, text messages, emails, and surface letters promoting various products and services.
And, no matter how many surveys you complete, you will never get to claim the promised Pizza Hut coupon, which never existed in the first place.
For the record, 2016 is not Pizza Hut’s 60th anniversary as claimed in the scam post. Pizza Hut was founded in 1958.
Facebook scams like this one are very common and have used the names of many popular fast food outlets including Pizza Hut rival Domino’s. Be wary of any post or page that claims that you can get free store vouchers, coupons, or gift cards just by sharing the promotion with your friends and filling in online surveys.
Last updated: May 31, 2016
First published: May 31, 2016
By Brett M. Christensen
About Hoax-Slayer
References
What is a Facebook Survey Scam?
SURVEY SCAM – ‘Free Large Domino’s Pizza’ Facebook Post
Original Source : https://www.hoax-slayer.net/get-a-free-pizza-from-pizza-hut-facebook-scam/