In recent years, several companies and stores have started organizing competitions for their customers on social media. Food giant Ica and its traders are no exception.
In Facebook posts, asking questions like “how much does the bowl of candy in the picture weigh?” and “in which city will the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 be decided?”, the Ica store’s customers have the chance to win everything from sweets to gift cards.
But when the competitions are published, the fraudsters see their chance, which is also noticed by the ICA stores.
ICA store warns customers: “It’s not us”
Photo: Jenny Kane/AP/TT
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ICA traders warn of fraudsters
As common as the posts about the contests themselves are the subsequent posts where the Ica traders warn of fraudsters who take advantage of the contests and try to deceive those who participate.
In most cases, you are forced to dissuade the contestants from clicking on links or giving out sensitive information.
“We want to remind you again that we will never ask you to click on any link or provide any personal information in order to participate in our competitions,” a merchant in Hisings Backa has written.
“We had to end the Kinder competition because of fake comments. Do NOT click on any link, it is not from us, but from fraud accounts,” a merchant in Kvänum stated.
Ica’s stark warning to customers: “We would never”
Photo: Screenshot/Facebook Ica’s response: “Widespread problem”
When News24 asks the food giant if they are aware that their traders and subsequently unsuspecting customers are affected by fraud attempts in connection with competitions on Facebook replies Kim Engblompress officer at Ica, as follows:
“Unfortunately, the issue of attempted fraud where fraudsters exploit well-known brands is a widespread problem.”
Photo: Pontus Lundahl/TT
Furthermore, Engblom states that they know that several ICA stores have experienced these problems in social media, but that it is up to them if they want to organize the competitions.
“Given that the Ica stores are owned and operated by independent merchants, this is a matter that is handled by the stores locally, but we, like the merchants, urge customers never to give out codes, short codes, card numbers or passwords.”
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