WHAT WAS CLAIMED
Fijians can receive a cheap clothing box from Shein via a Facebook promotion.
OUR VERDICT
False. The promotion is a scam.
AAP FACTCHECK - Residents of multiple Pacific nations are being targeted by a scam spruiking cheap clothing deals.
Social media posts falsely claim fast fashion company Shein is offering a box of items for less than $5.
It's being shared on Facebook by an account that claims to be based in Fiji, while other versions are also targeting users in Papua New Guinea and New Zealand.
The caption reads: "I was recently surprised by a friend from Shein — turns out there's a way to get a clothing box almost for free just by answering a few questions. The price is only 4.90 FJD! [About $A3.35.]
"It's part of a special initiative — participants receive items from the new collection even before the official launch, acting as testers," it says.
"I've already tried it — delivery was fast, and the clothing quality really impressed me (photo below)."
The post includes a link to a website where social media users are supposed to fill in a form or survey.
"Don't keep this a secret — share the link with your friends so they can take advantage of it too!" the caption ends.
The link, however, takes users to a French-language website selling juice and smoothies.
Users in the comments section of the Facebook posts appear to validate the promotion.
Key signs the promotions are a scam include that the Facebook accounts were created on the same day the post was made, and that the profiles have no other posts.
A reverse image search shows some of the photos have been taken from other social media users.
For example, the profile picture and cover photo of the account based in PNG uses photos of an American influencer.
Images used by the Facebook user as supposed proof of the products arriving have also been used by numerous others over several months.
AAP FactCheck contacted Shein but did not receive a response by the time of publication.
HOW TO SPOT A SCAM ON FACEBOOK - RED FLAGS
Exercise caution if a Facebook post includes several of these features:
- An urgent appeal to widely share the post
- No provided contact details
- Requests for users to send direct or private messages
- Vague information about the alleged giveaways
- Account posting the content is newly created, lacks a profile picture, has few friends or is not based in the area concerned
- Disabled comments, which prevent warnings or clarifications from other users.
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