Fact Check: Is Cadbury giving away free chocolate baskets for their 196th anniversary?

A time like the coronavirus crisis can be very majorly misused when it comes to fake and misleading information. People use the methods of social media portals like Whatsapp, Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram to share false information and also sponsor 'giveaways' which are just hoaxes for them to collect personal information from people. Thus, it becomes very important for people to be careful and keen to check whether any information received by them is true or not. In recent Whatsapp Forwarded messages, one of them claims that the company Cadbury is giving out free gift baskets. 

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Origin:

The hoax started with a Whatsapp Forward. In the message, bold letters claim that it is the 196th anniversary of Cadbury and thus they are giving out free chocolate baskets. They have 500 baskets to be given as a prize. It also has a link attached to it and one can have to go and register themselves on it to claim their free basket. Here is the Whatsapp Forward that was being shared:

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The rumour further went on and started circulating on Twitter and Facebook as well. People shared how they can claim gift baskets from Cadbury. Facebook also saw posts on how Cadbury is giving out free baskets of chocolates. While the Cadbury Anniversary date is unknown, it is definitely the 196th year of Cadbury's run in the industry.

The link opens up to a page which asks one to confirm whether they are 16 years and older. After clicking on 'I Confirm', the page shows a link to download a Google Chrome extension named Search Converter. If the entire process is repeated, some other app will pop up and ask for a download. The Cadbury link is just another way of covering up a hoax which makes you download an unwanted extension, or multiple, on your laptop. 

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Is Cadbury giving free chocolate basket? NO.

It is important to understand that such hoaxes and misleading information is made in order to lure people into doing unwanted things. They can also collect personal information like Name, address and phone number and it can be misused against the person. Thus, one must avoid such messages and Whatsapp Forwards.

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Google Trends Analysis

The Google Trends analysis of 'Cadbury anniversary free chocolate basket' message shows an interesting graph. One can see how people have searched a lot about it, trying to claim their free chocolate baskets. The trend saw its peak on May 9, 2020, 3.30 PM as a surge of searches related to this topic were seen on Google. 

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