I’ve written before about a Lowes scam on Facebook, and the latest Dollar General scam is taken from the same playbook. If you see this post, claiming to offer free $30 vouchers from DG, know that it is a scam. Please don’t trust it or share it. If possible, report it to Facebook.

How do to tell that it’s a scam? There are some details to look out for:

First, visit the real Dollar General Facebook Page. On that page, you’ll see a blue badge stating this is a verified, authentic business page. Facebook has checked the identity of this page to make sure it’s not an impostor. You won’t see that badge when you go to the “Dollar General Fans” page.

Also consider: the true Dollar General Facebook Page has 3.4M Likes. The fake-Dollar General Facebook Page has 4,000.

The real Dollar General FB page was created in 2009, if you look under the Page Transparency section. The scammer’s page was created yesterday.

Here’s what’s so bad about this type of scam:

When you click Like on something, Facebook automatically promotes it to your Friends. Your connections on Facebook will probably see “John Doe Liked the Dollar General Voucher Giveaway” and they may visit the scam and click Like. And then their Friends will see what they Liked, leading them to visit the scam… It’s a bit like a toxic chain letter.

Next, here are some directions the scam may go:

1) A person running the promotion contacts you over FB Messenger to say that you’ve won! But first they need your name, address, DOB, and driver’s license info, credit card #. They claim you cannot claim your prize unless you comply, and this is all done to verify who you are.

2) Someone messages you to say that you’ve won and the prize is on its way, After they get your mailing address, they send you a check. For the wrong amount! They’ve sent a check for $1035, and they ask you to send them $1000 back. If you comply, you’ll soon be out $1000 thanks to a kind of fake check scam.

3) The Page manager contacts you, asking for your email, so that he can send you an official Winner document. You have to fill it out to claim your prize. But when you receive the attachment, it asks to install something on your computer.

The 1st example can lead to identity theft. The 2nd is a quick way to take untraceable money from you (and they’ll probably contact lots of people with this line, not just one lucky winner). And the 3rd is a common method of making people install malware on their computers.

There is no $30 Voucher Giveaway, no one will win anything from this! If you’ve interacted with this or any other Facebook scam Page, please: Unlike the Page or posts, delete any Shares you’ve made and report the Page to Facebook. Facebook might move faster to address the scam if it receives a higher volume of reports about it.

Last year, this scam was a chance at a free RV from a big mid-west company. Next month, it could be free Starbucks coffee for a year or government loan forgiveness. This sort of scam will keep happening on Facebook, a different bait each time. But the tactics and telltales will be the same. Stay dubious, my friends!