Free Pringles– Illegitimate Facebook Offer
Last night, I laid in bed and tossed and turned for much of the night… not because my husband was snoring loudly as usual, not because my 3 year old daughter was squeezed in between the both of us (yes, I hate to admit it, but she seems to find her way into our bed way too often), and not because I ate an entire bag of M&M’s minutes before I headed to bed (yes, I am a chocolate addict).
I could not sleep because I was thinking about the free Pringles Extreme Facebook offer that I posted on Hip2Save 2 days ago. The offer was live on Hip2Save for a few hours until I became aware of the fact that it could potentially be an illegitimate/spam offer. In the last couple days, I have received many emails from readers concerned about how their privacy may have been affected by this spam offer. First, let me say that I am not Facebook savvy, however, I have attempted to do some research to provide you with information to help protect yourself on Facebook. Second, please keep in mind that at this time, I have not been able to fully confirm that this was a “fake freebie;” however, I am making the assumption that it is indeed an illegitimate offer.
Here’s what you need to do to protect yourself specifically from this Pringles Extreme Application…
* Log into your Facebook Account
* Click on Account (top right corner)
* Click on Application Settings
* Scroll down the list and find “Pringles Extreme”; click on the “x” to permanently remove it from the application page; be sure to hit the “remove” button and the “okay” button. Pringles Extreme will no longer have access to your data and will be removed from your profile and bookmarks.
Please be assured that I work VERY hard to ensure that all the samples and freebies posted on Hip2Save are from legitimate companies. I receive hundreds of emails for new sample offers and freebies on a weekly basis and only end up posting a small percentage of them. Unfortunately, I am human and was caught up in the excitement surrounding this offer… with Facebook offers, especially, there is always a sort of urgency to hurry and post the offer before it has expired as freebies are usually limited to a small number of people.
From here on out, I pledge not to get caught up in those “Hurry up and post em’ before they are gone” offers; instead I will take that extra little bit of time to verify the legitimacy of the offer, although, I can’t guarantee that I will always be right. I also urge all of you to spend those extra few seconds reviewing an offer to be sure that you are comfortable sharing your personal information. And finally, don’t let this Pringles episode ruin your whole outlook on freebies/samples… there are many legitimate companies out there who provide great opportunities to try their products at no cost.
Do you have any other suggestions/tips/concerns? Let us know in the comment section below.
Thanks for what you do Collin! Its not your fault people do scams.
We all have done it in the past, but appreciate your honesty, and all the hard work you do to keep this site going.
So very sorry to hear you lost sleep over this Collin. Just shows how dedicated you are to your readers and what you do. Please be assured that we all know you do your very best to give us the very best … and we can’t thank you enough!
Aw, don’t beat yourself up over this! I love your blog & have benefited so much from your posts.
The other day my colleague at work fell for one of those free ipod popups, so everyone makes a mistake sometimes. Facebook applications ALWAYS carry a risk regardless. I really wish companies would stop offering samples through FB, actually, because it’s just too easy to scam people on that site, and it’s so hard to tell the difference between legitimate and scam offers.
We are all grownups here and make a choice each time you post to go for it or not. I think everyone who signed up for the offer is guilty for not researching the offer themselves. Lesson learned for everyone… I think. We can’t assume that just because you post it… it’s legit. Please don’t loose anymore sleep over this. Anyone who blames you for their information being “at risk” is ridiculous. It’s no ones fault but their own.
I agree. We make the choices. Colin, you shouldn’t be losing sleep! We all have to be responsible.
I support you 100% and appreciate all your hard work.
Don’t beat yourself up about it Collin! We ALL appreciate all that you do for us when you post these great deals! I think we all expect that once in awhile a scam will fall through the cracks! We know that you do what you can to keep it from happening!
Thanks and keep up the good work!!
Katie Keisler
Agreed 🙂
Thanks for posting this! I didn’t realize the implications and appreciate you notifying us!
what did P&G have to say? Pringles are their brand – any word from them????
That’s what I was thinking – I know when this was first posted someone said that they had called P&G and that this offer was legit.
They posted on the Xtreme Pringles facebook page that it is not from them.
Then again, Office Depot claimed that they didn’t have a Facebook page either… 😉
No need to worry Collin, Facebook coupons are tricky at best and it’s up to each and every one if they want to share their FB information with a third party.
PLEASE contact facebook about this scam. Keep up the good work. tyvm!
Any of us can contact Facebook about this if we would like to. I don’t think we need to ask Collin to do it. : )
Goodbye Pringles! Gotta play it safe. Thanks for the heads up. I didn’t realize you did so much to protect us. Love you girl!!
WOW I am sooo sorry you are getting emails from people about this! You are saving all of us sooo much money! The pringles offer was posted on alot of different couponing sites so you were not the only one posting this deal! I saw the add on FB this morning for free pringles extreme an I am sure alot of people also did. Anyone that signed up for this offer did this themselves you did not hold a gun to them an tell them to sign up for them an if you didnt post those kinds of deals we would not get as many free samples as we do! I JUST WANTED TO SAY THANK YOU VERY MUCH COLLIN FOR EVERYTHING YOU DO!!!!
Stop beating yourself up! You do an outstanding job with your postings and the site. Everyone who uses Facebook should know that there are EXTREME risks with this site and to be cautious in their use of Facebook. In my opinion, companies should not be asking for access to your profile and friends, just to get a coupon. You’ve done the right thing in informing your site followers of the potential danger with this particular post and have been honest. Keep up the good work!! My family saves tons of money with the work that you put in and it is VERY MUCH APPRECIATED!
I appreciate everything you do. That being said, I appreciate you giving us the knowledge to protect ourselves from this kind of thing. It was a mistake and you corrected it. I think the world of you Collin. Your name comes up on a daily basis in our home. Usually like ” Hey, did you see the deal Collin posted”? Like we know you like that. LOL Love what you do and you’ve helped us save soooooo much money. Don’t get down on yourself or feel guilty. Go have another bag of M&M’s. You deserve it!!!
Don’t beat yourself up over it Collin, it’s very clear that you work hard to make sure what you post is legit. You do a great job!
For anyone who is interested, this site looks at your Facebook settings and evaluates the security of your information. It will give you a chance to let it change your settings so that is the most secure, but you can take or leave the suggestions. It’s been written about by Forbes, PC World, etc. and you can look at the articles by licking the source’s logo on the left side.
https://www.reclaimprivacy.org/
Kate.
Totally looked legit- I dont think any normal person would harbor ill feelings- you go above and beyond to find us deals. Don’t lose sleep- Thanks for all you do.
Thank you so much–I just removed this from my facebook– I appreciate your looking into this more than you know
I cant believe ppl would get upset about this. You find so many awesome deals and freebies that are real – don’t let one or two bad apples get to you. Keep up the good work – Thanks for all you post! Love Ya!
I ususally choose not to do any Facebook offers because I don’t feel comfortable allowing any company access to my personal information. People need to be responsible and think for themselves. You didn’t make anyone do anything.
Thanks Collin for the info. I really appreciate your dedication. On a completely different topic… I got a rite aid up reward of a 10% off shopping trip. Can anyone tell me how this works? It says it will give me 10% off or sale price (duh, I get that anyway). Is this before coupons and can u use it with a $5 off $25 q? Do I use this first and then my other coupons? Thanks.
Yes, you can use it with a $5/$25 coupon. Just make sure your total (after the 10% off) is over $25.
Thanks
Thanks for what you do and I hope you get a good night’s sleep tonight 🙂
Thanks so much for all you do for all of us, Collin. I’m sure many if not all of us have done something similar to what you did, but we didn’t blog about it. Keep up the great work and sleep well tonight.
We all chose to click on it and sign up for it, it’s not your fault. You posted that it was out there, it was up to us to do what we wanted with the info! Your site is fabulous, thanks for all you do. Get some sleep!
No problem! LOL! I removed it as you suggested. It happens. LOL! As if I needed Pringles anyway……..:)
love your site because you are so honest and have values. I have a seperate facebook log in for the “sample me” …I use that one for any freebie/facebook offers, that way it doesnt bug my friends news feed and any potential scams doen thave access to my real information.
I like this idea! I may do this as well. So you just set up a second FB account then?
That’s what I have too – I created a “fake” account that I use for all the freebies & coupons. You just have to make a legitimate sounding name (like you cannot use “Coupon Woman” as your name). I used a shortened version of my real name, my “spam” email address, and only the bare minimum of info. No picture.
I am signed up under a very similar name , not quite coupon woman, but soooo close, FYI.
yep..with a different email address…i use the email address i use only for samples, offers…that way all that spam goes to their own account that I rarely look at
This is a fantastic idea! I just did the same thing!
u are sweet-
I understand why you’re upset, but I agree with everyone else. Don’t beat yourself up.
Collin I am so sorry you lost sleep over worring about “us”. I love all your posts and I know now and then something may even get by the master but that’s just life. Rest well and know that you are very apperciated and adored.
Good comes from bad… I took this as an opportunity to remove all of the odd-ball organizations that had tapped into my profile.
Coincidentally I received an email yesterday with a link for a free sample of a Kellogq’s nutrition bar (I think it was Kellogg’s)… anyway… after I gave up my email address, I was taken to a page with “small print” stating the Kellogg’s was not associated in anyway with the giveaway… that killed it right away… another spamming attempt to collect a lot of personal info.
You are AWESOME! You’ve taught me so much and you share your heart with us, too. I appreciate that about you and your site. Thanks for caring for your readers and their families.
It’s okay! Don’t be upset! I hope you can get a nap in today!
Ok, I forgot to say one thing. The thing I like best about your blog, Collin, is you.
agreed!!
ditto
Well Put! Ditto, Collin.
I didn’t notice anything unusual, but no biggie! We all take a risk, we are adults, and no one should hold you accountable. I don’t, and I will just remove myself.
Thanks for all you do, Collin.
Too true!
Collin, thank you so much for all you do and please don’t be so hard on yourself. You’re doing a great job. Love you.
Thank you so much for posting about this, Collin! I did Pringles Offer the other day, and didn’t know it was legit offer at all until now. Then I didn’t even know how to remove those apps, so I thank you to let me know how to do it! Also I’m always appreciate that your time/effort, maintain your blog, and post bunch of great offers for us. I understand that to get sweet offers, means I sell my infos to them. So before I started coupons/offer stuff, I created an e-mail only for those offers/free items. That one is always full from the company’s e-mail & mail magazines, and I knew that this happen.
Thank you again for giving us bunch of great tips & offers! I love your blog and keep following you!! 🙂
I mean ‘didn’t know it WASN’T legit offer’.
Thanks for letting us know 🙂
Thanks for this post. I went to fb and removed Pringles and saw a few other apps who didn’t need my info and removed them too! As always, I appreciate all you hard work.
Dana
Jenison, MI
Thanks for being honest Colin and letting us know that it was probably a scam. That is much appreciated. Keep up the fantastic work. I am so happy someone told me about this site!!
Please do not blame yourself, Collin. We all really appreciate your hard work. I emailed the Pringles customer service but haven’t got reply yet. Without your help, I could not save any money and have some fun at same time. Thank you for heads up.
Thank you for the heads up, as well as thank you for all you do.
Excellence is always your goal, perfection can never be achevied.
Thanks for letting us know about this Collin! These things happen! And don’t lose any more sleep over stupid illegitimate facebook deals!!!!! Now go eat some more m and m’s and forget this whole thing happened 😉
I’m sorry that you lost sleep over this. I found out it was a scam through comments on your site and wish I would have known sooner. I am not blaming you, since I chose to do it. It’s not like it was something done on purpose! Because of those comments, I deleted Pringles Extreme right away. I do have a separate account for freebies/coupons to help me worry less. You are awesome and thank you for bringing us tons of freebies and saving us all lots of money.
You do a great job on this blog and I love it more than any other money saving blog! You’re great! 🙂
DITTO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I know I saw the offer on quite a few blogs. You are the only one that came back and warned us it was a fake. I went back and checked and everyone else just seemed to have deleted the post! Thanks for the heads up and for everything you do for us!!!
You are doing great job for everyone, don’t let these things upset you.
NO WORRIES!!!
this is my favorite coupon site my second favorite just posted an apology this morning also because she fell for the same setup, you have no reason to feel bad we all get duped by some offer, i cant tell you how many times ive fallen for things that were not what they claimed to be it would be too embarrassing to admit how many times thats happened, my facebook page is only basic info to setup the account with my maiden and middle name only, i dont post things on it i just use it for facebook offers, no worries, you are awesome, and if there were an opportunity to confront mean people who scam annonymously you would have literally hundreds of women standing behind you, you go girl!
Collin, you do soooo much good on this site. Don’t worry about 1 or 2 mistakes 🙂
Thank you for all you do, to save all of us so much money 🙂
Oh no! Collin don’t you lose another minute of sleep over this! We all LOVE YOU! You work so hard to save us all money and I don’t know what I would do without you. Scams happen and we all fall victim to them once in a while. What you post always has good intentions and we all need to understand that you are human. Shake it off and move on with the day….while you’re at it, maybe sneak in a nap?! Love and hugs to you!
I cannot click on the box, it won’t let me. why? I am not facebook savy either and now I am concerned.