Discount e-scooter promotion is fake

A Facebook post which claims to offer members of the public the chance to purchase e-scooters at a substantial discount is a hoax.

The post on a page called “JM Store” says: “The Argos store in cooperation with Xiaomi are doing a promotion for 50 electric scooters. Participants have the opportunity to get a Xiaomi Mi Pro 2 scooter at a very large discount. Hurry up, the time of the promotion is limited.”

A picture accompanying the post shows a Mi Pro 2 scooter, which currently sells for £600 at Argos, on offer for just £3.

The post, which was published on 27 October, has more than 500 comments, the oldest of which appear to feature people praising the promotion. In some cases, the account holders have included photographs of the scooters they claim to have received.

No other posts appear on the JM Store page, which includes a phone number that begins with the international code for Haiti. 

An almost identical offer appeared on a separate Facebook page, branded PJTechshop, on 3 November. Some of the comments on this post are from the same account holders and use identical pictures and wording as those attached to the first post. 

A spokesperson for Sainsbury’s, which purchased Argos in 2016, told Full Fact that the company was not involved in any promotion with Xiaomi and that the post was therefore likely to be a hoax. 

Fake posts involving heavy discounts on Xiaomi scooters have appeared in multiple locations in recent years including New Zealand, the Philippines and Malaysia. 

We have written before about similar fake offers, including one involving free televisions from Tesco and another offering low-cost hair dryers from Dyson. 

Image courtesy of JavyGo