No, Screwfix is not offering huge discounts to the over-50s

Posts on Facebook falsely claim that a “special clearance offer” from hardware retailer Screwfix allows people aged over 50 to purchase a Gorilla garden cart for just £3, in return for completing a short survey.

But a spokesperson for Screwfix told Full Fact that these offers are not genuine.

One post says: “My 27-year-old daughter, who works at Screwfix, told me something I have to share. If you’re over fifty, you can complete a short survey and get a Gorilla garden cart for under £3. It’s part of a special clearance offer meant to give back to seniors, a group often overlooked.

“My husband just turned 53, so I ordered one for him. It showed up three days later, and he was genuinely thrilled. I’ll leave the link she sent me in the comments. Just answer a few quick questions to check if you’re eligible.”

However, though the link shared in the comments of the Facebook post says Screwfix in the URL, it doesn’t take users to the official company website but rather to an unrelated page with a review of a laptop.

Posts offering fake deals are very common on Facebook and we’ve checked similar ones before featuring other retailers. Examples include false offers for various laptops, PlayStations and baby strollers, which were supposedly available at improbably cheap prices.

It is always worth checking posts sharing offers that seem too good to be true. One way to verify this is to see whether the offer has been shared by the company’s official page—this will often have more followers, a verified blue tick on platforms like Facebook or Instagram and a longer post history.