Last Updated on November 29, 2020
EDITOR’S NOTE: Be aware that Aldi does not do giveaways on social media. If you see something that looks like an Aldi giveaway, stay far away. It’s a scam.
Every once in a while, social media posts pop up claiming that Aldi is doing a giveaway.
In January of 2020, a post started making the rounds on Facebook that looked like this:
The post stated: “ALDI will reward someone out of every share and comment by 11pm Sunday to win a year of free groceries! — ALDI Team”
In December of 2020, another post made the rounds like this:
“My name is Jason Hart and I’m the CEO of ALDI Inc. To celebrate our 75th Birthday, Every single person who shaᴦes and comments by 11AM Sunday will get one of these Christmas Food Box delivered straight to their door on Monday 30th November. Each Food box contains groceries worth $75 and a $25 ALDI voucher – After visit [WEBSITE] to validate your entry.”
“Limit 1 Food box per person.
These posts are fake. Aldi is not giving away free groceries.
Several things about these posts are problematic, cluing us in that they are scams.
- They are not on Aldi’s official Facebook page, are not on any of Aldi’s other social media platforms, and are not on Aldi’s website. Instead, they are posted by a page impersonating Aldi.
- They do not offer important details. They do not always say what specific date the deadline falls on or what time zone the time deadline is located in. They also usually lack all those long legal disclaimers you see in real giveaways.
- They sound too good to be true. As the fact-checking website Snopes points out, the posts in question follow the script of similar like-farming scams that draw readers in with a big promise, followed by requests to like, comment, and share the posts … and sometimes to also click on a strange link. The Better Business Bureau states, “Use your good judgement. If a post says you can win something that sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”
The Facebook posts in question are a scheme known as like farming. According to the Better Business Bureau, scammers write a post designed to catch your attention and get many likes, comments, and shares. The post often appeals to emotions (sick children, homeless animals, politics, a chance to win something big, etc.). As a post gets liked and shared, it gets seen by more people on Facebook and appears in more people’s newsfeeds. After a post gains a large audience, scammers often edit the post, adding something malicious such as a link to a website that downloads malware to your device or collects personal information. They may also strip the Facebook page’s original content and change its focus, using it to try to sell spammy products, or they might resell the page on the black market where buyers can spam you.
So if you see a post like one of these:
- Don’t like it
- Don’t share it.
- Don’t click on any links.
You can also report it as a fake social media page.
I’ve seen this same scam more than once, re-branded for other retailers. The first one I saw was made to look like an official Walmart post. These never link to an actual corporate page but rather a spoofed page.