Lidl shoppers seeking middle-aisle deals targeted by scammers

Fake online offers designed to trick customers into providing card and personal details

Lidl has asked the company behind both Facebook and Instagram to remove pages on the social media platforms that are designed to steal money and personal details from unsuspecting shoppers by using its logos and livery and promising discounted ‘middle-aisle’ deals.

Social media users reported ads appearing online late last week offering products including garden sheds and electric guitars for prices that seemed too good to be true.

And they were.

A limited edition Les Paul guitar was priced at €79.99 while a full-sized flat-packed shed had a price of just €49.99.

When would-be bargain hunters followed the links they were brought to a website designed to look like it was being operated by Lidl.

Everything about the sites are, however, fake, with the images stolen from various online sources.

Anyone who submitted their credit card details would most likely have had the money taken from their accounts in exchange for absolutely nothing. What is worse is that their credit card details – and personal data such as their names, addresses and phone numbers – would almost certainly have been subsequently sold on the dark web, creating all manner of future headaches.

When alerted to the scam profiles, Lidl made contact with Meta to have them removed from its platforms.

“At Lidl, we take our responsibility with regards to reporting scams and communicating preventive measures to customers seriously,” a spokeswoman said.

“We regularly scan social media for scams impersonating Lidl and report them immediately to the social media platforms and have them removed. We also regularly run campaigns on our owned channels to warn consumers of potential scams and these posts are also pinned to the top of our Instagram, Facebook and X profiles. We can confirm that we have reported this specific scam to Meta,” she concluded.

Reporting on:irishtimes.com