Fake Giveaways – A Free Prize for a Small "Postage" Fee

A post or an ad on social media offers something free: a family pass, a gift, a back-to-school pack, a prize from a name you know and like. To claim it you pay a small fee for postage, €2 or €3, by card. The prize never comes, because there was never a prize. The fee was not the point either. The point was your card number. The rule comes first, because it works whatever brand is used next. The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) puts it in one line: "Never pay money to claim a prize or give out card details." Dublin Zoo says it for itself: "Dublin Zoo will never ask for credit card, debit card, or bank details to enter a competition or claim a giveaway prize." The Irish case on record is recent. On 16 September 2026 the CCPC warned of "a number of online scams which appear to impersonate Dublin Zoo either through social media posts or through fraudulent website links", noting that "Some posts offer free gifts or free back-to-school packs asking consumers to pay €2-€3 postage." Dublin Zoo's own notice describes fake campaigns advertising "free school kits" and free Dublin Zoo tickets, and names one clone website, dublinzoo.net, which it says "operates a fake booking engine designed to harvest payment card details". Do not visit it. Dublin Zoo is today's example, not the whole story: the CCPC says scammers are "using established businesses with recognisable branding to create fake social media ads and clone websites". This is not the Fake Facebook Shops scam under this same heading. There you are buying something at a price too good to be true, and the loss is what you paid. Here nothing is being sold. The price is tiny on purpose, and what matters is not the €2 but the card it was paid with.

• •Parents, grandparents and anyone planning a family day out
• •Families getting children ready for school, the season the "back-to-school pack" version ran in
• •Anyone who follows, likes or shares posts from well-known Irish attractions and brands
• •People scrolling quickly on a phone, where a sponsored post looks much like a friend's
• •Anyone who would not think twice about €2, which is nearly everyone

• •Real brands really do run giveaways. Dublin Zoo runs genuine ones on its official accounts, so "would they do this?" gets the answer yes
• •The fee is too small to think hard about. Nobody checks a website carefully to save €2
• •Calling it postage makes the charge feel fair: the prize is free, and you are only covering delivery
• •The posts look official. The CCPC says they "often appear with images or videos featuring fake Dublin Zoo-branded content"
• •Scammers can pay to put these posts in front of you. The CCPC: "They can also pay to advertise, reaching more people."
• •The loss looks too small to report, so it is easy to shrug it off and never cancel the card whose details were taken