Primark has issued a warning to shoppers following a spate of fake accounts offering giveaways, vouchers and goodie bags.

The chain, which has stores in Norwich and King's Lynn, first warned of such accounts at the start of March but has seen a number of new posts claiming to be the company circulating on social media this weekend.

In the last 24 hours, new posts have emerged offering a special gift bag "full of goodies" and a voucher worth £75 to spend in store to mark the business's 51st birthday.

In a separate post, the unofficial page said winners had received comments asking them to register on a site to receive their gift and that it was "real and official".

%image(14459981, type="article-full", alt="A screenshot of one of the posts being circulated around Facebook at the weekend.")

%image(14459982, type="article-full", alt="The link on the post takes "winners" to a site to enter their details.")

A Primark spokesman said: “We have been made aware of some social media posts from fake accounts offering Primark competitions, giveaways, vouchers/goodie bags. We can confirm we have no connection to these accounts and are working hard to have them removed. Our official accounts have a blue verified tick next to them."

Adam French, Which? Consumer Rights Expert, said online scams were happening on an "industrial scale".

He added: “You should be suspicious if you see a new social media account advertising for a company you know well, as it may be a scammer pretending to be that brand.

“Sometimes enticing posts offering competitions or giveaways on social media link to a fake login page, so be wary of following any links or sharing personal information, you could by giving those details to a scammer."