Pizza Hut Giving Three Free Large Pizzas To Contest Entrants For 58th Anniversary Is A Freebie Scam

Pizza Hut giving three free pizzas away to Facebook users in honor of its 58th anniversary is a scam. There is no truth that the popular pizza chain is offering three pizzas away to contest entrants in celebration of their 58th anniversary. Where did this scam originate?

In October 2017, multiple versions of a post titled “Pizza Hut is giving 3 FREE Large Pizza Coupon on their 58th Anniversary” circulated on Facebook and Twitter. However, there is no truth to this statement. Those on social media who click the link are led to suspicious domains.

If you click the link you are led to a page that does appear to be legitimate. Users are first asked a series of questions. The page followed a common scammer template of appropriating Pizza Hut’s logo and Facebook’s visual interface, but boasting that entrants had “a chance to get [a] Papa [John’s] Coupon.”

Snopes reported that any interaction with the prompts in the link the sends social media users to a screen encouraging them to spread the scam further on Facebook and Twitter. Underneath the “Congratulations” interface was a series of what fake comments of real winners of the scam.

Here are some examples of people sharing the scam on social media.

Pizza Hut addressed previous questions on their Facebook wall during a similar scam in May 2016.

Facebook users continue to regularly encounter survey scams. A July 2014 article from the Better Business Bureau advised users how not to fall prey with the following suggestions:

Don’t believe what you see. It’s easy to steal the colors, logos and header of an established organization. Scammers can also make links look like they lead to legitimate websites and emails appear to come from a different sender.

Legitimate businesses do not ask for credit card numbers or banking information on customer surveys. If they do ask for personal information, like an address or email, be sure there’s a link to their privacy policy.

When in doubt, do a quick web search. If the survey is a scam, you may find alerts or complaints from other consumers. The organization’s real website may have further information.

Watch out for a reward that’s too good to be true. If the survey is real, you may be entered in a drawing to win a gift card or receive a small discount off your next purchase. Few businesses can afford to give away $50 gift cards for completing a few questions.

What did you think of the scam alleging that Pizza Hut was giving away three large pizzas? Did you believe it or see people sharing the scam on social media? Let us know in the comments section.

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