Tesco scam warning: Look out for emails promising you free food

More than 190 people have received a scam email promising them the chance to win a free shop at supermarket giant Tesco. The 197 people who were targeted by the scam received the dangerous message in the space of just one week. And anyone that sees this message sitting in their inbox have been advised to stay well clear of it as it could lead to their sensitive personal and financial information being stolen.

The dangerous email targeting Tesco shoppers was highlighted by Action Fraud, the UK’s national fraud and cyber reporting centre.

The cyber crime experts said: “Action Fraud has received 197 reports within one week about fake emails purporting to be from Tesco.

“The emails state that the recipient can win ‘free groceries’ by entering a competition. The links provided in the emails lead to phishing websites that are designed to steal your personal and financial information.”

Action Fraud added that if anyone receives a message which they aren’t sure if genuine they should contact the organisation the correspondence is allegedly from to verify it.

While this will take a little bit of time it will save you much more hassle in the long run that could be caused if your sensitive details end up in the hands of bad actors.

You can also forward any suspicious looking emails to the Suspicious Email Reporting Service (SERS) via this address: report@phishing.gov.uk.

Action Fraud revealed a few examples of this fake Tesco offer, with a number of different designs spotted.

All of the scam messages claimed people were able to win £500 worth of Tesco groceries by entering into a competition and providing personal details.

But, as is the case with other such scams, tell-tale signs the message was a fake included poor grammar, spelling as well as being directed to websites which weren’t official Tesco URLs.

Tesco itself has advice on its website designed to help customers stay clear of any such scams which can leave them out of pocket.

The supermarket giant said: “Be careful, and if something sounds too good to be true – it probably is!

“Social media scams try to fool you into sharing your personal information in all sorts of ways, and even target people on lots of different channels.”

Tesco goes onto list seven different type of scams for out for, including ones that offer the chance to ‘win free things’.

Speaking about this Tesco said: “Unfortunately, you won’t be given iPads, iPhones, tickets, or vouchers for free in return for a click or a like – these are just scams used to collect your details when you enter the survey or competition.”