Costco Mother’s Day Giveaway Scam 2023: Fake $8000 Offer!

Have you stumbled on a link on Facebook or Whatsapp that says ‘Congratulations! Costco Mother’s day gift. Through the questionnaire you’ll have a chance to get $8000″? Beware! It is a scam.  Costco Mother’s day giveaway 2023 is not real, and if you fall for it, you will end up losing your money.

I came across same link earlier today, and I decided to play along to know if the giveaway is indeed real. First of all, the website is not the official Costco website which is costco.com, it’s a malicious website that steal people’s personal and financial information. Secondly, the comments on the website page had images that are not real. Google reverse image showed the images have been used by countless fake giveaway sites.

Thirdly, when I finished answering the questionnaire, I was told to share the link to 5 friends either on Messenger or Whatsapp, before I can claim my prize.

This is where the scam comes in. By sharing the link on Facebook or WhatsApp, you’ve given the scammers access to your social media account. Of course, you wouldn’t receive the giveaway prize as it is not real. Rather you’ve made your Facebook or WhatsApp account vulnerable to being hacked by scammers.

This kind of scam is not new. It is a typical bait and switch scam, where scammers lure you in with giveaway or freebies but then trick you with either shipping fee or confirmation fee. In fact, Twitter has reported to have had scammers that earned around $145 recently by scamming people and tricking them into fake giveaways by hacking into high end company accounts and making it seem like they hosted them.

What To Do If You Fell For The Scam

If you fell for the Costco Mother’s day giveaway 2023 scam there’s no need to panic. The first thing you should do is call your bank or credit card company and block your credit card. Meanwhile, if you gave the scammers any access to your Paypal, Venmo, Cash App, Zelle, etc., contact the company and secure your account.

You should also enable two-factor authentication. Don’t know how to do that? follow the steps written here or Search Google for how to do that. Take extra measures to ensure the scammers can’t get in.

See similar Giveaway scams – Amazon Package Loyalty Reward, UKPepsi Lottery Scam, Eyeverify, Bath$Body Coupon, Amazon Airpods Raffle Scam, and many more.