Another day, another Facebook scam. This one features a fake Marlboro coupon that’s supposedly good for two free cartons of Marlboro brand cigarettes.
The coupon looks real enough, but if you click on it you won’t be directed to the official Marlboro website.
Instead, you’ll end up on a fake website that could infect your computer with malware and/or trick you into giving a hacker your personal and financial information.
Here is a screenshot of the fake Marlboro coupon:
There are other variations of this scam as well, and they usually include some generous “freebie” offer accompanied by a photo similar to this:
These types of “free giveaway offers” are almost always fake, and if you think about it for a moment you’ll understand why.
Facebook currently has over a billion users worldwide. If even a fraction of those users accepted a legitimate offer like this, the company would likely go bankrupt before they got all the free merchandise into the hands of the folks who signed up for it.
Bottom line: The old saying “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!” is as valid today as it ever has been. If you have any doubts whatsoever about the legitimacy of an offer, think long and hard before you click!
If you have already seen one of these fake Marlboro giveaway posts and clicked on the link, I suggest that you run a thorough malware scan on your PC right away. This post explains how.
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