Cadbury warns of Easter hamper Facebook scam: 'Do not interact'
With Easter just around the corner, confectionary giant Cadbury has warned of a sinister social media scam circulating via Facebook.
An unverified Facebook page named "Cadbury AU" published a post on Tuesday, claiming that a Cadbury employee named Becky White is running an Easter promotion.
The fraudulent post promises that every social media user who interacts with it before 11pm on March 31 will receive a free giant Cadbury hamper.
But there’s a catch - all entrants are encouraged to sign up to an external tracking page and "follow the steps" to "verify" their win.
An official Cadbury representative has confirmed with Yahoo News that the competition is a fake, and has encouraged chocolate lovers to avoid clicking the page’s external link.
“We’ve been made aware of a post circulating on social media, claiming to offer Aussies a hamper of free Cadbury products,” Cadbury spokesperson Alex Blair said.
“We can confirm this has not been generated by us and would urge Cadbury fans not to interact or share personal information through the post.
“The safety of our consumers is our priority and we’re working to ensure this is resolved."
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Sad statistic following online scam
The false Cadbury AU page was created the same day the scam competition was announced, but has received a staggering amount of community interaction.
5,811 Facebook users are currently following the scam page, with the fake competition post receiving a whopping 6,200 comments and over 15,000 shares.
Although many commenters are stating how much they’d love to win the advertised prize, a few eagle-eyed followers have caught on to the sinister nature of the posts.
“This is a scam,” one person commented.
“Fake news,” commented another.
Cadbury has urged its fans to be vigilant of social media sources moving forward, telling Yahoo News: "Cadbury fans can find our verified social media channels by looking for the verified blue badge."
Recent reports from the ACCC’s Scamwatch showed that Aussies lost a whopping $323 million to scams in 2021 alone, which is an 84 per cent increase from 2020.
Almost 25 per cent of the losses, equating to $81 million, were suffered by Aussies over the age of 65.
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