Walmart Gift Card Text Scam

What It Looks Like

Congratulations! You've been selected for a $500 Walmart gift card. Claim it before it expires: [link removed]

The wording, amounts and company change, but the pattern stays the same.

How to Tell It's Fake

• You can't win a contest you didn't enter.
• Real stores don't text prizes out of the blue.
• “Before it expires” is meant to rush you.

How to Check for Real

There's nothing to check: you can't win a contest you never entered. Never use the link or phone number in the message.

If You Already Tapped or Paid

1. Call the number on the back of your card and say it was used on a scam site. They can cancel it and send a new one.
2. Watch your statements for charges you don't recognize, and dispute them.
3. Don't pay any “fee” the site asks for again, and ignore follow-up texts.

Acting in the first hour gives you the best chance of stopping charges.

Report It

• Forward the text to 7726 (SPAM). It goes to your phone carrier, who uses it to block the sender.
• Report it to the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov.
• Then delete it, and block the number.

Not Sure About a Text?

ShooFly checks any text, letter, link or caller in seconds, right on your phone, and tells you what to do next. It also sends scam texts like this one to Junk before you see them. Free.