I am sad to have to make this post. However, it seems to be a necessity and an unfortunate sign of the times. I have received a number of direct messages on social media lately from people asking me if I am really giving away large LEGO® sets like the UCS Millennium Falcon. The answer is no, you are being scammed. Sadly, there has been a rise in scammers setting up an online presence on social media and linking back to articles and reviews here on True North Bricks. This problem is particularly prevalent on Facebook, but not limited to it. This is a public service announcement to beware of online LEGO® scams.
DON’T CLICK ON SOCIAL MEDIA AND EMAIL LINKS CLAIMING TO GIVEAWAY FREE LEGO® SETS FROM SOURCES YOU ARE UNFAMILIAR WITH.
Do your research before you click on any links on these social media pages. The ones I have seen are very poorly crafted. They use images that are easy to find on Google to show their happy contest “winners” and products/prizes. Do a Google search for the set the page is supposedly giving away. If any of those happy winners come up in the images search on other sites or social media platforms, you are probably being scammed. A common tactic is to skim personal photos from AFOL accounts showing enjoyment of the hobby.
DO YOUR RESEARCH BEFORE CLICKING ON ANY LINKS, EVEN IF THEY LOOK LEGITIMATE.
True North Bricks occasionally does contests and giveaways. However, we will clearly advertise them here on the main site and our own social media channels. If you have come here via a link that claims to be giving away LEGO® sets, and it is not from True North Bricks’ own Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, YouTube, or TikTok channels, chances are you are being scammed. These pages often do not mention True North Bricks, and their links do not visibly show our URL, but they send you through some shady, foreign link shortening site to True North Bricks. We also never sell LEGO® sets directly. We only link to our reputable affiliate online retailers (Amazon, LEGO.com, Walmart) from our deals page and weekly updates here on the site.
ANY TRUE NORTH BRICKS LEGO® GIVEAWAY WILL BE CLEARLY ADVERTISED HERE ON THIS WEBSITE. IF IT’S NOT HERE, IT’S NOT BY TRUE NORTH BRICKS.
Sadly, there is not much I can do to stop this other than to warn you to beware of online LEGO® scams. I report these links to Facebook and other platforms as I learn about them. However, it is rare that anything is done about it. So, please be careful about what links you click on and be skeptical about offers that seem too good to be true. If True North Bricks is doing a giveaway, it will be clearly advertised on this website. If it’s not here, we’re not involved.
If you have arrived here via another web or social media page claiming to offer free or discounted LEGO® sets, and that page is not one of True North Bricks’ official social media pages linked on this page, you should report the scam using the appropriate reporting procedures on the social media site you arrived from.
Until next time,
-Tom
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I thought when I read the title, other people had experienced something similar to me, but yours was different. I got a text message claiming to be UPS about needing to pay to deliver my lego order.
They addressed me by my full name, knew my phone number obviously, that I ordered from lego and even my postal code. I didn’t answer it, suspecting it was a scam. But this leads me to believe either lego, or UPS had a hack. I want to assume the more likely candidate was UPS. Haven’t heard anyway else have a similar experience. I think if I wasn’t so paranoid of online scams, I would have fallen for it, because they had so many details about me, unlike most phishing scams. Everyone needs to be extra suspicious!
Actually, that exact same scam has happened to me. I also did not click on it. Thanks for bringing that up. You are absolutely right about needing to be suspicious. Now that I know it happened to you too, I will bring it up with the LEGO Group directly.