Applebee's Gift Certificate Hoax

Netlore Archive: Another 'freebie by email' hoax - the Applebee's gift certificate giveaway

Description: Email hoax
Circulating since: Jan 2002
Status: False

Email example contributed by Floyd Dennis, 01/12/02:

-----Forwarded Message ----- Subject: Gift Certificate from Applebees My name is Bill Palmer, founder of Applebees. In an attempt to get our name out to more people in the rural communities where we are not currently located, we are offering a $50 gift certificate to anyone who forwards this email to 9 of their friends. Just send this email to them and you will receive an email back with a confirmation number to claim your gift certificate. Sincerely Bill Palmer Founder of Applebees Visit us at: www.applebees.com Hey guys, DONT DELETE THIS EMAIL It really works, I tried it and got my Gift certificate confirmation Number in 3 minutes.

Comments: In case there are those who still haven't caught on yet, there are people in this world who get their jollies by making up hoaxes and loosing them on the Internet. The text above is one specimen of their handiwork and yet another variant of the phony freebie chain letter hoax that has been pointlessly clogging modems worldwide since 1997.

For the benefit of anyone credulous enough to need a debunking direct from the source, Applebee's International, Inc. posted the following statement on its website:

I received an email that said I should forward the message to receive free Applebee's® gift certificates. Is this for real?

No. A fraudulent email chain message promising Applebee's® gift certificates for forwarding the message is currently making its way around the Internet. The message promises a gift certificate and a confirmation number after forwarding the message to a specific number of email addresses. Applebee's® International, Inc. does not sponsor or endorse this activity and is unable to fulfill these requests.

I recommend taking them at their word.

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Related resources:

Applebee's Gift Card Hoax
Applebee's FAQ (corporate website)

BBB: Applebee's Internet Message Is a Hoax
Better Business Bureau, 30 September 2002

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Proof there's nothing new under the sun (or on your computer screen)

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