Lego giveaway scam: fraudsters offer £735 sets for £3 on social media

Scammers are trying to obtain your bank details by offering expensive Lego sets for just £3 in dodgy social media posts.

Here, we explain how this scam works and offer advice on spotting giveaway scams.

A Facebook post claims Lego is offering ‘Han Solo’s Millennium Falcon’, which usually retails at £734.99, for just £3. The account posting the ‘offer’ has just five followers, but you’ll see lots of positive comments from ‘winners’ below the post. 

The post prompts you to click on a link to ‘order now’. You’ll be taken to a page containing fake Lego branding and a URL that isn’t affiliated to Lego. You’ll be asked three questions to ‘confirm you are a real person’. 

You’ll be told you have to play a mini game and must ‘choose the right gift box’ to win. Bizarrely, this page says you can win a ‘Samsonite suitcase’ rather than a Lego set. 

When you play the game, you’ll have three chances to win. The first two boxes you click on will be empty, but when you click a third, you’ll be told you’ve won the Lego set. 

You’ll now be asked to fill out a form to claim your Lego set within a set period of time. You’ll be asked to enter your bank details to pay £3. If you do so, you’ll be giving your details away to fraudsters.

A Lego spokesperson told Which?: 'We have been made aware of a fraudulent site claiming to sell Lego products at a discounted price to obtain customers’ personal details. We take this extremely seriously and are currently investigating the issue.

'In the meantime, we recommend consumers be vigilant when making online purchases.'

How to spot giveaway scams

This scam uses a series of common tactics to lure victims. 

Too good to be true Few followers, many comments Dodgy URL Competitions Time limit 

What to do if you fall victim to a scam

You can report the post to Facebook by clicking the three dots in the top corner of the post and selecting 'report post'. 

source https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/lego-giveaway-scam-fraudsters-offer-735-sets-for-3-on-social-media-aTlAV1b3oGyj