Facebook posts claiming that Walmart’s giving $500 refunds are scams

You may have seen a social media post or two about an alleged $500 refund Walmart is giving to its customers for shopping at stores in 2022. Buyer beware — that claim’s a scam.

In a May 20 Facebook post, a social media user wrote: “If you shopped at Walmart in 2022, you could be entitled to a $500 refund! Walmart lost a lawsuit, and we can assist you in claiming your refund. Click ‘Apply Now’ and answer a few short questions to begin.” 

The post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)

When users click “apply now,” they’re led to a website with the Walmart logo and an image of a Walmart gift card. The site also has a timed four-question survey. When we completed the survey — which asks about age, number of people in household and whether the user has shopped at Walmart — the site sent us to a page to click on gift boxes in hopes of choosing one that contained a gift code.

It gave us two tries, said we won and then instructed, “You will be directed to the website of our certified distributors. Enter your address and pay 2.95$ for shipping to get a $500 Walmart Gift Card.”

Throughout that process, the website’s URL is not one for Walmart. The URL begins with “cookingdiscoverykdd.site” and includes words about a recipe for “pistachio cardamom jam thumb cookies.” When PolitiFact copied and pasted the link into an archiving site, it appeared as a different webpage than the fake Walmart survey. 

We found other Facebook posts sharing the same claim and links, which led to surveys or websites unaffiliated with Walmart. 

We’ve debunked a similar ruse that used fabricated Walmart sexual discrimination settlements to lure people into clicking for a supposed shopping credit.

Walmart has been in the news for different lawsuits, and the claim does not say to which lawsuit it refers. PolitiFact reached out to Walmart but did not receive a response before publication. We found no news stories or other evidence that the company is offering a $500 refund. 

On the “fraud alert” section of Walmart’s website, the company advises, “Don’t click on or respond to online ads or websites offering free gift cards. These are often scams.”

We rate the claim that Walmart is giving customers $500 refunds False.

By

Gabrielle Settles

Staff writer

May 26, 2023

Truth-o-meter Ruling

False

IF YOUR TIME IS SHORT

• The Facebook posts lead users to a bogus website, not an official Walmart page.

• There is no evidence that Walmart is refunding customers $500 for shopping at their stores in 2022.

Statement

“If you shopped at Walmart in 2022, you could be entitled to a $500 refund!”

Context

a post

Speaker/Target

Speaker: Facebook posts

Statement Date

May 20, 2023