Just in time for back-to-school shopping, hundreds of thousands of people are sharing a great coupon for Dollar General stores.
It's a coupon for $150 worth of merchandise to honor Dollar General's birthday.
Colleen Herman wasn't sure what to make of the Facebook post that asked her to share it for a big -- really big -- Dollar General coupon.
"It says they are celebrating 80 years of service, and that I needed to like and share the post," she said.
In just a couple of weeks, more than 750,000 people have shared it.
Latest in a string of Facebook coupons
In recent years, coupons like this have popped up on Facebook for all sorts of stores: grocery stores like Kroger, Publix and Aldi, Walgreens, Walmart and Target.
And when you try to use it, in every case the outcome is the same: you receive nothing.
Unfortunately, in each of these cases, there is no free merchandise. Dollar General has posted on its Facebook page that this is a scam, just like all the recent coupons promising $60 or more of free merchandise.
It even has a name: It is something called "like farming," with marketers harvesting and re-selling names of active Facebook members.
Herman says that's what she suspected.
"It's almost a scheme, click and share for marketing purposes, but I probably wouldn't do it. And at a dollar store for $150," she said.
Think about it: $150 worth of Dollar General items would be a whole aisle of merchandise. The store would be empty and out of business in a couple of days.
Andrea Kimplan says her mother always warned about things like this.
"My mom always said, 'If it's too good to be true, it's a lie.' So I wouldn't try this, no," she said.
Mom obviously was right, again. As always, don't waste your money.
--------------------------------
Don't Waste Your Money" is a registered trademark of Scripps Media, Inc. ("Scripps").
"Like" John Matarese on Facebook
Follow John on Twitter (@JohnMatarese)
For more consumer news and money saving advice, go to www.dontwasteyourmoney.com
