A WhatsApp message (see the above-featured image) is being widely shared in Kenya claiming that Carrefour, one of the largest retail chains in Kenya, is giving away free vouchers.
Background
Since the onset of COVID-19, many families have been severely affected with people losing their jobs, businesses going under and others having to work for lesser pay. With the onset of December holiday season and the shortage of cash, many have been looking out for deals and sales with many businesses offering discounts, gifts and vouchers from late November.
The link in the above-mentioned message leads one to this website (since taken down) asking 3 questions.
After answering the questions, one is asked to share the link with 20 friends or groups to claim the voucher. The website also has a countdown showing the remaining vouchers, which keeps decreasing the more one shares as instructed.
Verification
The page uses Carrefour’s official colours but the logo used is different from the original one. The site provides icons at the top resembling a search bar, map locator, homepage, user profile and shopping cart. The icons are not clickable and, on inspecting the code, they are just images with no links. The image below shows Carrefour Kenya’s website homepage:
Staying on the site for a few minutes automatically redirects one to another site (also since taken down) claiming to offer call credits and internet bundles.
The websites follow the same pattern as this scam we fact-checked earlier on. This feature story further explains how similar WhatsApp scams work. A similar scam was called out by Carrefour through their official Facebook page in December 2017.
Verdict
The claim that Carrefour Kenya is offering Ksh 29,700 voucher to celebrate new openings is FALSE.
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