Costco’s 'free turkey dinner' offer sounds tempting — but it will cost you more than you think
Rising prices have already made holiday shopping a challenge for Americans, and scammers lurking around could ruin the festivities. People look to retail chains such as Costco to buy Thanksgiving meals for celebrating on a budget. But recently, people have been getting fake emails on behalf of the retailer, which say that they have won a free Thanksgiving meal. In reality, these are from scammers trying to use free turkeys to tempt unsuspecting consumers.
It is best to stay prepared in case such an email lands in your inbox, and here’s how you know that it is a scam. Screenshots of the mail were shared on Reddit and Facebook, in which good Samaritans have taken the effort to spread awareness about the scam. Like most scams, consumers are asked to click on a link, which can either install malware in their system or give access to the scammer.
The scammer can use this to steal personal and financial information and leave consumers with nothing in the bank. According to a report in Woman’s World, the most popular one says that you have a limited time offer to claim a free Thanksgiving meal. This meal supposedly is 28 lbs and can feed up to eight people. To avail the meal, one has to click on a link, which supposedly opens up a feedback form.
The customer is informed that after filling out the form, the free meal will be theirs. Obviously, this is not true. However, scammers are getting all the more creative, and the first thing that will catch your eye is the Costco logo at the top of the mail, which looks legitimate. Phishing attempts are not uncommon, but scammers try new tactics and are more active during the holiday season.
Remember, if the offer seems too good to be true, it probably is. People are better off without clicking on the link in the mail. Rather, it is advisable that such emails be reported to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. This will put the scammers on the federal agency’s radar, and they can take action as soon as possible. One must also beware of similar attempts in which scammers are posing as a different company.
In the comments section of the Facebook post, one user explained that these scammers are not just posing as Costco representatives. “The latest one I have been getting is supposedly from USPS saying that I won a free box. 🤣 It was sent to 2 of my emails,” the user wrote. “Most of them are fairly obvious, but they wouldn’t do it if some folks didn’t fall for it,” another user replied to the comment.
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