Does a series of Facebook posts offering needy Americans "free food and stuff" provide real information about food banks in the United States? No, that's not true: None of the posts provide any actual locations for those in need to get free food, and images used in the post are taken from unrelated free food banks. Clicking the links on the posts sends users to unrelated advertisements that collect email addresses and offer no food. All of the group page administrators are based in Zimbabwe.
The claims of free food appeared in dozens of posts, including this post (archived here) shared in the "FREE STUFF AND FOOD IN USA" Facebook group on April 4, 2025. It read:
FREE eggs, potatoes, milk, rice and meat for families in dire need. In the box we include 1lb packs of bacon, maple breakfast sausage, country sausage, pork chops. 4 ribeye steaks, 2 packs of hamburgers and 2 packs of ground beef. Turkey and Ham. You can pick them up anytime. More details here about our 🆓 community meal Más 📦 https://www.freefood.pro/
This is what the post looked like on Facebook at the time of writing:
(Source: Facebook screenshot taken on Sat Apr 5 16:25:28 2025 UTC)
The post uses an image is from the Instagram account of the American Humanity Foundation in Atlanta, Georgia. There is no apparent connection with the Facebook group. The image is also used as the top image on the group's page.
The Facebook group has 23 administrators, none of which list the United States as their location. The only country referenced in their profiles is Zimbabwe:
Clicking on the website link included in the posts leads to a page that reads:
GET GROCERIES, FREE FOOD AND FREE MEAT DELIVERED TO YOU NOW !!!
SIGN UP HERE
Register with us and receive free food
Clicking the "sign up here" button, takes you here:
Submitting an email address takes you to this page:
If you share your private information requested above, you are sent to this page:
Click again and there are more personal questions:
The clicking continues with more questions, including "Are you a homeowner?" and "Were you involved in a motor vehicle accident within the last six months?" If you keep clicking you may be offered a deal on a pill to help with erectile dysfunction.
Eventually, the operators of the website have collected a lot of personal information about you, but you'll never actually get a real offer for free food.
