Beware of BP fuel card scams circulating on Facebook

Scammers are promoting fake BP fuel card offers to steal your details

A scam Facebook advert impersonating BP claims to give you the chance of receiving 200 litres of fuel for just £1.78.

Rising fuel costs are on the radar of scammers, inspiring them to create new ways of tempting you to part with your money.

Read on to discover how to identify, avoid and report this scam.


Sign up for free Which? scam alerts to find out about the latest scams news and advice.


Scam BP fuel giveaway

This latest scam was shared by a number of members on our Which? Scam Action and Alerts Facebook group.

The scam Facebook advert appears as ‘Discounts on 200 fuel litre cards’ and is a ‘sponsored’ post. It uses an image of a crowded BP petrol station with a hand holding a BP fuel card.

The text above the image states: 'BP is leaving Russia and redirecting leftover fuel to the UK, giving you the chance to get a 200 litre fuel card for just £1.78.’

It claims that you could win this fuel by following a link to a website to complete a survey - tricking victims into handing their details over to these scammers. 

Another version of the scam sees the same image under the text:

'Due to the current rise in fuel prices, BP is running a promotion for its customers, allowing them to get a 200 litre fuel card for £1.78.'

Underneath the image, a button labelled ‘Order Now’ leads to a dodgy website designed to take your details.

When the link in this particular scam ad is clicked on, you're sent to a dodgy website that uses the BP logo and says: ‘Congratulations! You have been selected to participate in the BP promotion! The government in cooperation with “bp” announced the distribution of fuel cards on 200 litres at 1.78£ [sic] to the British.’

It then asks three questions:

  • Are you from the United Kingdom?
  • How much gasoline do you use per month?
  • Do you use BP gas stations?

Once these are answered, you're given three attempts to choose the 'correct box' with the fake fuel card prize in it from 12 onscreen gift boxes.

If the correct box is selected, you're taken to a page that offers you the non-existent fuel card for £1.78 and asks for your personal details including name, address and email.


Join Which? Scam Action and Alerts Facebook community


How to spot this BP fuel scam

If an offer seems too good to be true, like this one, it probably is. 

Scammers can easily impersonate genuine brands. Before clicking on any links on adverts like these ones, check the brand’s official website and its Facebook page to see if the deal is mentioned. Official Facebook pages include an authenticated blue tick badge, which means the page has been verified as a genuine public figure or brand by Facebook.

A clear giveaway that it's a scam is that this deal isn’t communicated by either the UK government or BP, as the phoney website claims.

Another sign that these adverts are dodgy are the random website addresses they both use - neither have any link to the real BP website. 


Read our guide on how to spot a social media scam.


Reporting fraudulent Facebook ads

We asked Meta, Facebook's parent company, about these scam adverts on its platform, it said:  'We do not allow fraudulent activity on our platform and have removed the adverts brought to our attention. If people see activity they feel doesn’t belong on our platform, we encourage them to report it using the tools on our platform, so our teams can investigate and take action.'

To report a fake advert on Facebook, click on the three dots on the top right-hand corner of the ad and select ‘Report ad,’ before pressing ‘Misleading or scam’. Find out more about how to report content on Facebook

You can report suspicious websites to the NCSC. 


Back our campaign to make tech giants take more responsibility