Don’t fall for this Walmart gift card offer

A recent Facebook post promises what seems like a pretty good deal: a $500 gift card for groceries that you can purchase for a mere $2. 

"Walmart management is helping with rising prices with $500 grocery cards for $2," the Sept. 5 post says. "Follow the instructions to participate." 

This post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)

Walmart did not immediately respond to our questions about the post. 

But there are a few clues on Facebook that this isn’t a credible offer that you should pursue. 

First, the link "to participate" was shared by a page called "Grocery Card Shipment." This page isn’t affiliated with Walmart, and it’s brand-new. In fact, it was created the same day the post was published.

Second, although several Facebook accounts had commented on the post, claiming to have received gift cards, their profiles were bare-bones. They had profile pictures that were all updated on the same date. A reverse image search for several of the profile pictures led us to Russian-language websites and social media profiles with names that are different from the names used on Facebook. 

Clicking on the link in the post raised more red flags. 

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The website it takes you to shows Walmart’s logo. But the url began "echolala.info/blog" and isn’t affiliated with Walmart. It told users to answer questions about their gender, age, family members and history of winning gift cards before leading to another page that said: "You have been chosen to participate in this survey. It will only take a minute of your time and you can receive a fantastic prize: $500 Walmart Gift Card!"

A grid of 12 boxes then appears, and users are directed to click on them. The first box we clicked was "empty" and we were instructed to try again. The second box revealed a supposed $500 Walmart gift card. We win! Then the catch: You have to enter your credit card information to pay $2 to ship the gift card to your home. 

We didn’t find anything on Walmart’s website to corroborate the claim in the Facebook post that the company is virtually giving away $500 in grocery gift cards. In fact, among the tips on Walmart’s website to avoid gift card fraud is one cautioning customers against buying, selling or checking a gift card balance "on online marketplaces outside of Walmart.com."

We rate this post False.