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On August 17, 2022, we investigated a fraudulent survey on Facebook involving the unauthorized use of the Pepsi brand. A page called Pepsi FANES, which was apparently meant to read Pepsi FANS, claimed to be giving away gift boxes of the soda in honor of the company’s 119th birthday or anniversary. However, this was not a legitimate offer.

According to the shared page, the same Indonesian scammers who managed other recent scams for Target refrigerators and Walmart purchases also created the one using the Pepsi name. We also previously reported on a scam that allegedly involved Pepsi giving away mini coolers. These types of free business gift scams have been around for years.

The post read: “To celebrate @Pepsi’s 119th birthday, we’re sending a Pepsi gift box to anyone who shares and says ‘Done’ before August 20th.”

The fact that the Pepsi FANES page did not contain any verified badges was the biggest clue that this was not an official giveaway.

Pepsi was created in 1893. Its original name was Brad’s Drink, the name of pharmacist Caleb Bradham. The name changed to Pepsi-Cola in 1898. In other words, 2022 would not be Pepsi’s 119th birthday or anniversary.

Factual error aside, Pepsi’s Facebook bid was nothing more than a poll scam. Neither Pepsi nor PepsiCo, the soda’s parent company, had anything to do with it.

Survey scams are a specific type of deception. They promise big prizes up front, but then lead to a seemingly endless number of surveys with other attractive prize promises, such as a $750 transfer via the mobile funding app, Cash App. Typically, the scammers who created the Facebook posts expect users to sign up for accounts on various websites that can earn them small amounts of commission.

At the same time, survey scams can also be quite dangerous, as reported by AARP.org:

In the middle of questions about the supposed subject, mock surveys ask for personal or financial information, such as a credit card number to pay a shipping fee for your prize, which a legitimate survey will not do. You could be tricked into signing up for a “free trial” offer that is actually an expensive subscription for a dietary supplement or other product.

Clicking the link may also launch malware that can wipe sensitive data from your device. Either way, fraudsters obtain information that they can use to steal identities or sell to other bad actors.

Some major retailers, such as Amazon and Walmart, offer gift cards as prizes to customers who complete online surveys about their shopping experience, but those companies say they will never ask participants to provide sensitive data.

Long story short, no, Pepsi wasn’t giving away gift boxes or anything like that on Facebook, nor was it the “119th anniversary” of the drink or the company.

Sources:

“Beware of survey scams that require personal information.” AARPhttps://www.aarp.org/money/scams-fraud/info-2021/survey.html.

“‘Brad’s Drink’ Becomes Pepsi-Cola, 1898”. NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources28 Aug. 2016, https://www.ncdcr.gov/blog/2016/08/28/brads-drink-becomes-pepsi-cola-1898.