PHILADELPHIA – Consumers should be wary ofโ enticingโค Facebook advertisements offering bulk quantities ofโ Hershey’s Kisses, as a local woman recently โfell victim to a deceptive scheme linked to โขsuch an ad. The โwarning โฃcomes as these ads are widely circulating on social media, especially as shoppers โฃbegin holidayโค preparations.
susanโ Golding intended to purchaseโข approximatelyโข 20 pounds of Hershey’s kisses for under $11 to fill Christmas mugs for โขher 22 nieces and nephews. After submitting her information andโข seeing an โinitial charge of $10.95 โon her creditโค card, she was then hit with a โคsecond, unauthorized charge of โข$81 from a โcompany listedโฃ as Silvercraft Watch.
Golding promptly โdisputed theโฃ $81 charge โฃwith her bank, stating, โ”I never agreed to it.”โข The companyโข representativeโฃ claimed the Facebook ad was for โขa “sweepstakes,” with all โฃterms and conditions disclosedโฃ online, including information about an “$81โ a-month book club.” golding refutes this claim, asserting, “I definitely read the โfine print and there was nothing about a raffleโฆI know there was definitely nothing about a โbook club.”
WPVI-TV’s Troubleshooters team contacted Silvercraftโ Watch, receiving the same description offered โฃto Golding. Hershey itself hasโข acknowledged the fraudulent activity, statingโ theyโ are โ”actively working with Facebook to protect consumers” and reminding customers that the โonly โofficial โขdirect-to-consumerโค salesโค channel is shop.hersheys.com.
Following intervention โขfrom โคthe Troubleshooters, Golding โreceived a full refund from her โbankโข for both chargesโ and canceled โคher credit card to prevent further unauthorized activity.This incident serves as a critical reminder to carefully review โall terms โand conditions before engaging โwithโค online โoffers, particularly those appearingโข on social mediaโ platforms.