No, Walmart is not giving away gift bags. Here’s what to know about the Facebook scam

Don’t be fooled by a Facebook post offering free gift bags from Walmart — it’s a scam, the company says.

The post appeared on a fake Walmart Facebook page in March and features photos of several people standing behind dozens of reusable blue bags.

The post claims that the big box retailer is giving away gift bags filled with goods and a $75 voucher to those who share and comment by Thursday evening.

“To celebrate the Great news of Walmart becoming plastic bags free by the end of 2021, we are giving one of these Walmart gift-bags to every person who share & comment before Thursday @ 5pm. Each person who does this will have their bag full of goodies and a $75 voucher delivered straight to their door on Friday!”

The post then tells users to validate their entries at a link. These links often prompt those who’ve clicked to enter their personal information.

A spokesperson for Walmart confirmed to McClatchy News that the post is fake.

“This page is not affiliated with or endorsed by Walmart,” the spokesperson said. “We take any fraud impacting our customers seriously and continue to implement and improve upon measures designed to help guard against various consumer scams.”

The company told Fox Business it’s working with law enforcement to foil scams.

The post features a number of warning signs that signal the offer isn’t legitimate.

In the photos, the Walmart logos on the bags and T-shirts appear to have been digitally added.

Additionally, the fake Walmart page that shared the post has been liked by 26,000 people and is missing that little blue check mark that indicates the page has been verified by Facebook.

By comparison, the real Walmart Facebook page — found here — features the blue check mark and has more than 34 million likes.

The Federal Trade Commission has warned against these kinds of scams, explaining that they’ve been on the rise in the last few years. In the first six months of 2020, social media scams netted a whopping $117 million from victims.

If you believe you’ve seen a scam on social media, you can report it to the platform and to the FTC.

This story was originally published March 25, 2021 at 2:12 PM with the headline "No, Walmart is not giving away gift bags. Here’s what to know about the Facebook scam."