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Martdeals.online Gift Card Giveaway EXPOSED – Fake or Real?

By Lapain Epuran11 min read

A big gift card. A store everyone knows. A few quick steps to claim it. Martdeals.online lines these up neatly, and on a budget, that looks like a lucky find.

Instead of clear steps, you get vague ones and a bright button. Follow the button, and the deal on screen is replaced by a very different one.

Martdeals.online scam

Overview

How Martdeals.online pitches its gift card offer

Big gift card headline, claim button: that’s what Martdeals.online shows. Pages built like it usually throw in a well-known retailer’s logo and numbered steps ending in “claim your card.”

Pages like this make it sound quick. Drop in your email, answer a few questions, then knock out a few “recommended deals.” Those deals stay vague until you’re already in.

A borrowed store name, not a store promotion

The retailer won’t be sending a card, because it isn’t running or approving this offer. The site leans on that familiar name for trust it could never earn.

The web address doesn’t belong to the retailer, and neither does the place the claim button takes you. Clicking it opens an affiliate network’s tracking link.

The truth about the “steps”

Behind the gift card bait sits a lead-generation funnel. This is what buttons like this one typically lead to:

  • A tracking link that turns each visitor’s sign-up into a payment for the operator.
  • Forms asking for your email, phone number, address and date of birth.
  • Sponsored deals that steer you into paid trials, subscriptions, app installs or credit applications.
  • Terms that keep moving, so there is always one more deal between you and the card.
  • A reward with no named company responsible for delivering it.

Put simply, Martdeals.online is a gift card scam. No matter what it promises, don’t hand over your details, don’t begin any of its deals and don’t wait for a card.

What We Found on Martdeals.online

Here’s what stands out about Martdeals.online:

  • The page’s title reads "Walmart Gift Card Reward".
  • Its claim button opens a tracking link on giftclick.org, an affiliate network domain, not the website of the store it names.

How the Martdeals.online Gift Card Scam Works

Think of Martdeals.online as one copy of a template. Reward funnels like it follow the same script, changing just the store name, the amount and the domain each time.

Step 1: Word arrives that you’ve been chosen

It usually starts with a text, an email or a social media ad. The message claims you’ve been “selected” to test products or collect a reward from a famous store.

That figure is big enough to pull you out of your scroll. Meanwhile, the store’s name lends trust that an unknown website could never build for itself.

Seeing your first name or a recent purchase in some messages makes them feel personal. But that detail can come from an earlier data leak, not from the store itself.

Step 2: A landing page that makes it look quick

Pages like Martdeals.online usually show a few numbered steps and a bright button for claiming. “Complete a few deals” sounds manageable, a short task with a clear ending.

Many of these pages also pile on countdown timers, “only a few cards left” banners and tallies of people who “already claimed.” You can’t check any of those numbers.

Step 3: The claim button leads into an affiliate network

Press “Claim” or “Start now” and the next stop is a tracking link, not the store. That link files away the operator’s affiliate ID and the offer you clicked.

Ordinary sites use affiliate links all the time. Here, they reveal that the first click already turns you into a lead for sale instead of a winner getting a reward.

Step 4: Your personal details become the product

The first request is your email. Later pages ask for your name, phone number, home address and date of birth, and a “survey” about income and shopping habits often follows.

Every question you answer turns you into a more valuable lead for marketers. Even an abandoned form can keep the emails, texts and calls coming for months.

Boxes that come pre-ticked deserve a second look. If you leave them checked, clicking “Continue” just once can put your details in front of dozens of “marketing partners.”

Step 5: Real costs come with the deals

The card sits behind sponsored deals, and you’re told to clear them: free trials, streaming plans, insurance quotes, credit applications, or mobile games played to a set level.

The catch is the payment card many of them require. A trial not canceled in time can become a full-price subscription, and a credit application can leave a hard inquiry.

Step 6: You never receive the card

Each time you think you’re done, there’s another step. After a few deals, you’re told you need more, a deal “didn’t track,” or the claim is “pending review.”

Every deal you finished has already paid the operator. So there’s nobody to chase about the card, which was never the product in the first place.

Red Flags of Offers Like Martdeals.online

Almost every reward funnel shows the signs below. The first one by itself answers the question.

“Deals” are required before the card is released

“Complete a few deals” gives the game away: that’s an affiliate funnel. A store’s own gift card giveaway never makes you start paid trials or apply for credit.

The prize is far too big for the effort

It’s true that stores run giveaways. It isn’t true that they hand out cards worth hundreds for a form. The bigger the reward, the stronger the pull, and that’s intentional.

The store’s name, but not the store’s domain

Look at the address bar before reading anything else. A famous store name tucked inside an unfamiliar domain means an advertiser is using the brand, not the retailer.

The claim button points off the site

Want proof before clicking? Hover over the claim button on a computer. These pages route it to a tracking domain rather than to the retailer.

No name stands behind the offer

No company, address or support contact is there to send the card or take responsibility for it. That tiny “not affiliated” line in the footer doesn’t fix the problem.

A message from nowhere

When a sender you don’t know emails or texts that you’ve “won” or been “selected,” treat it as the start of the funnel, not proof of a prize.

A ticking timer or a “last cards left” alert

All that urgency has one job: keeping you from checking. A genuine store promotion will still be there, unchanged, after you spend a day looking into it.

Why the Store’s Name Isn’t Proof

Scammers reach for famous stores because a familiar name persuades on its own. Costco, Target, Walmart and Amazon gift cards are common, and any trusted brand will work.

Major retailers regularly caution customers about fake surveys and rewards that misuse their name. They ask people to avoid entering details through links that arrive unexpectedly.

In 2013, the US Federal Trade Commission sued the people running “free gift card” text campaigns that pushed recipients into paid offers. Since then, the script has barely changed.

Seeing a familiar store name proves nothing on its own. Look for the offer on that store’s website. If it isn’t there, the store isn’t behind it.

What a Real Store Promotion Looks Like

It’s true that real retailers run gift card giveaways. Learn what a genuine one looks like, and the contrast with a fake becomes easy to see.

  • It shows up where the store actually speaks: its own website, app or verified social accounts.
  • Official rules spell out who runs it, what the prize is and when it ends.
  • There’s no requirement to start a trial, install an app or apply for credit.
  • The address for a receipt survey comes printed on the receipt, and any loyalty reward appears in your account or app with the store.
  • Contact with winners happens through the account or channel they entered with, not through a random text.

Treat the gift card as bait whenever an offer misses even one of these. Real promotions don’t need to keep their conditions behind a “claim” button.

What the “Deals” Can Cost You

You never receive the card, but you do pay the real costs of chasing it. These are the usual ones:

  • Ongoing billing. A free trial or discounted plan that renews at full price if the cancellation window slips by.
  • Credit inquiries. Every loan or credit card application in the chain can add a hard inquiry to your credit file.
  • Unwanted calls and email. Once you hand over your email, phone number and address, they go to marketing partners you didn’t choose.
  • Follow-up scams. Scammers value lists of people who already replied to a “you won” offer. Expect more phishing and fake delivery texts to follow.
  • Unwanted apps. Games and apps added to your phone to “unlock” the reward can keep watching you or filling your screen with ads once you stop playing.
  • Lost time. All those hours of surveys, games and offers go toward a reward that was never on its way.

It’s a lopsided arrangement. The operator is paid every time a visitor signs up, the visitor inherits the bills, and the card never exists at all.

Same Funnel, New Domain

There are plenty of reward pages that look nearly identical to Martdeals.online. They’re cheap to put together, often on website builders, and usually disappear within days once reported.

Check the claim links and you’ll often see one affiliate ID repeated across several domains. That points to one operator running many pages at the same time.

Line the pages up and the shared fingerprints are hard to miss:

  • A big-value gift card from a famous store, splashed across the headline
  • A numbered path of three or four steps leading to “claim your card”
  • A line saying you must “complete a few deals” to qualify
  • A claim button where one click opens an affiliate tracking link
  • Timers or tallies that can’t be verified

Forget the store and the amount once a page fits this mold. It’s the familiar funnel, simply hosted at a new address.

How to Check a Gift Card Offer Before You Click

It only takes two minutes to tell them apart: the genuine promotion checks out, and the reward funnel doesn’t.

  1. Leave the link alone and visit the store’s official website or app directly. Then search for the promotion there.
  2. Using a computer? Hover over the claim button first. A tracking domain where the store’s address should be tells you everything.
  3. Run a search for the site’s name plus “scam” or “review.” No history at all is a warning in itself, and new funnels often have none.
  4. Go through the fine print looking for “deals,” “offers” or “participation requirements.” Finding any of them means the card has strings attached.

Spot a problem with any check? Close the page. Your email address is too much to give it, and your card details are far too much.

What to Do If You Have Fallen Victim to This Scam

Did Martdeals.online get your details, or did you start deals through it? Then act now, while the trial periods are still running, and most of the damage can be limited.

  1. End all trials and subscriptions. Each deal you started needs canceling before the trial is over. Hold on to every cancellation confirmation you get.
  2. Check your statements. Don’t recognize a small test charge or a recurring payment? Dispute it with your bank or card issuer.
  3. Replace the exposed card. Contact your bank for a new card number if you entered card details on any page in this funnel.
  4. Keep an eye on your credit. Filled in a loan or credit card application along the way? Check your credit report for new inquiries or accounts you didn’t open.
  5. Stay wary of new texts and emails. Messages about “your reward” or “a problem with your claim” are scams, so don’t click any of their links.
  6. Tidy up your device. Revoke notification permissions these pages got from you. Installed anything? Scan with Malwarebytes Free. AdGuard blocks many ads leading to these pages.
  7. Change any reused passwords. Made an account on the site with a password you also use elsewhere? Change it on those other accounts as well.
  8. Cut off the contact. Unsubscribe from companies you recognize and nothing else. The rest goes to spam, and any number that starts calling or texting gets blocked.
  9. Report what happened. Flag the ad or message where you saw it, alert the retailer whose name was misused, then file with ReportFraud.ftc.gov (US) or your country’s fraud service.

If the charge or subscription just won’t cancel, contact your bank or card issuer, which can usually dispute it. Most give you a few months, so act now.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the Martdeals.online gift card real?

No. Martdeals.online is a gift card scam, plain and simple. You get an affiliate funnel that collects your details and pushes paid deals, but you never get a card.

Is Martdeals.online connected to the store it names?

No. The name, and often the logo, belong to the store, not to the offer. They’re borrowed to look trustworthy. A real promotion would be on the retailer’s own website.

How does Martdeals.online make money?

With affiliate commissions. Advertisers pay per email address, per survey answer and per completed deal. The operator keeps a share of each payment.

I completed some deals. Will I get the gift card?

Sadly, no. Don’t sign up for anything else. Cancel each trial and subscription you began, review your statements, and disregard any message claiming your reward is “pending.”

Why do I keep seeing the same offer on new websites?

It’s the same funnel wearing new clothes. A page gets reported quickly, a replacement costs almost nothing, and the operators relaunch it on another domain with another store name.

What should I do if I get one of these offers by text?

Leave the link unopened. Forward the text to 7726 (SPAM), which in the US or the UK helps your carrier block similar messages, and then get rid of it.

The Bottom Line

Martdeals.online’s real product is the deals in its paid affiliate funnel. A big gift card and a famous store’s name serve as bait to get you started.

Skip the form and skip the deals. If any site tells you to complete offers before you can claim a free gift card, close the page right there.

Already in? Cancel the trials before any of them renew, then check your statements. Should a message about your reward arrive, treat it as the next scam.

Make your next click a safer one.

Spotting a scam is a good start. These tools can add protection when you browse, open messages, or download software.

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Written by

Lapain Epuran

Lapain Epuran investigates product scams, from supplements sold with miracle-cure claims to gadgets pushed through misleading ads. She has more than 10 years of experience in investigations and checks each product's claims, seller and refund terms before giving a verdict.

4,241 articlesWriting since 2024
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