Free Sharpie Marker Giveaway-Scam!
Summary of eRumor:
Social media has been abuzz with posts about free Sharpie marker giveaway.
The Truth:
Sharpie isn’t giving away free markers, and scammers are taking advantage of those who click on links to try to redeem this fake offer.
Claims about a Sharpie marker giveaway spread across social media in February 2016. Some posts claimed that Sharpie was giving away markers to celebrate its 75th anniversary, and others claimed that winners of the Sharpie sweepstakes had been randomly selected.
All of these claims are false.
After tens of thousands of people had clicked, like and shared these fake giveaway offers, Sharpie addressed the hoax directly on its Facebook page:
Scammers could be using the fake Sharpie giveaway for a number of reasons. This can be used as a survey scam, in which victims are prompted to give out personal information to redeem their prize that is later sold to a third party. Or, this type of scam could also be used in “like farming,” in which scammers use fake offers for free products to generate “likes” for a Facebook page that is later sold for a profit.
Avoid the free Sharpie giveaway scam, and similar offers. The best way to identify these scams is to look at the Facebook account that it was posted under. If the account is not an official or verified account of that company, assume that it’s a scam. Also, reputable companies will never ask for personal information over social media.