Viral Facebook posts on multiple pages and profiles claimed to offer a "meal for two with drinks voucher offer for everyone!"
Published Mar 15, 2022
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In early March 2022, we reviewed several reader emails that inquired about purported voucher offers for Olive Garden and Chick-fil-A on Facebook. The posts on multiple Facebook profiles and pages showed pictures of food at both restaurants and claimed to provide a "meal for two with drinks" for "everyone."
However, these were not legitimate offers.
Chick-fil-A 'Meal for Two' Scam
The fake voucher offer for Chick-fil-A appeared on facebook.com/ChickFans as well as other profiles and pages. This page is not managed by the fast food chicken chain:
This was the first step of a scam. We recommend reporting posts like these to Facebook.The post read as follows:
Hello everyone I’m Michael Gorham. I am very happy to announce I’m the new CEO of Chick-Fil-A. I’d like to start my new job off with a good deed for everyone as I know recent times have been tough which is why I’m going to be rewarding everyone who shares&comments in the next 24 hours with a voucher to get meal for two at any Chick-Fil-A for lunch or dinner.
To be clear, Andrew Truett Cathy is the CEO of Chick-fil-A, not someone named "Michael Gorham."
Olive Garden 'Meal for Two' Scam
Several helpful readers sent in screenshots of the purported voucher offer for Olive Garden. It was similar to the posts for Chick-fil-A, and had been going around since at least September 2021:
This did not come from a legitimate Facebook page.The scam Facebook posts with the fake "meal for two with drinks" voucher offer for Olive Garden read as follows:
Meal for two with drinks voucher offer for everyone!
I'm Dave George, the president of Olive Garden. I know times have been tough so to help everyone out I have a special surprise for everyone who shares&comments then. Every person who does this by Sep 28th can get a voucher. Each voucher can be used at any Olive Garden restaurant to get a meal for two with drinks!
Not only was there no voucher since it was a scam, but also Dave George hasn't been with Olive Garden since he retired in 2020. As of early 2022, the company's president was Dan Kiernan.
How the Scams Worked
After users commented on the above posts, the scammers directed them to other posts that looked like the one below:
These scams have been going around since at least 2021.Notice that the post pictured above has photographs for Olive Garden but also a Chick-fil-A profile picture in the top-left corner. This indicated that the Facebook accounts that were involved had managed scams for both restaurant chains. The post read:
#CONGRATULATIONS For those of you who have received comments from us, you have a chance to win them.
To Enter???
Step 1 = Like and Share
Step 2 = Enter here ? (link removed) ?
Step 3 = coment DONE
Like and share our page below??????
god bless you
Upon clicking the link in the posts — something we advise readers against doing — we were led to rewardgiantztesters.com and then promotionsonlineusa.com. These websites appeared to lead to endless offers and surveys. Similar websites can also potentially lead to attempts for phishing, identity theft, or other similar outcomes.
Vietnamese and Indonesian Origins
According to multiple pages we found that were pushing the same scams, these pages and profiles that promised the fake offers for Chick-fil-A and Olive Garden may have been managed from Vietnam and Indonesia.
Several of the profiles named "Olive Garden Fans" that are linked in the paragraph above appeared to have switched profile pictures from Olive Garden to Chick-fil-A to run one or both scams.
Some of the profiles and pages that displayed the scams showed other businesses as well. The scammers appeared to also push fake voucher offers for Costco, Texas Roadhouse, and KFC.
In sum, no, Chick-fil-A and Olive Garden were not giving away vouchers, gift cards, or anything else on Facebook that included a "meal for two with drinks voucher offer." This was a scam. The official Facebook pages for Chick-fil-A and Olive Garden feature blue verified badges. This symbol is an indication that a page is genuine.
Sources
“Andrew Truett Cathy Named Third Chief Executive Officer of Chick-Fil-A, Inc.” Chick-Fil-A, 16 Sept. 2021, https://www.chick-fil-a.com/stories/news/andrew-truett-cathy-named-third-chief-executive-officer-of-chick-fil-a-inc.
Dan Kiernan | Darden Restaurants. https://www.darden.com/our-company/executive-leadership/dan-kiernan.
Romeo, Peter. “Darden’s Operations Specialist Dave George to Retire.” Restaurant Business, 25 June 2020, https://restaurantbusinessonline.com/operations/dardens-operations-specialist-dave-george-retire.
Jordan Liles is a Senior Reporter who has been with Snopes since 2016.
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