Warning about Facebook ad offering popular chocolate in bulk

PHILADELPHIA -- A warning about a Facebook ad offering a popular chocolate in bulk, perfect for the holidays.

The ads are popping up all over social media. This one was offering about 20 pounds of Hershey kisses for less than $11.

But before you click to buy, listen to what happened to Susan Golding, who was trying to do something nice for her 12 nieces and nephews, and 10 great-nieces and nephews.

"I thought, 'Oh, I'll go to the dollar store and get them all Christmas mugs, and I'll fill them with these 20 pounds of Hershey kisses," said Goldberg. "I filled out the form and I sent it in. And two days later, maybe three days later, I saw posted to my credit card, the $10.95."

But Goldling said she never got the Hershey kisses and instead received a second charge of $81 from the same company, listed as Silvercraft Watch on her credit card statement.

"I got in the car and went right over to the bank. And I said, you know, I want to dispute that charge. I never agreed to it," she said.

That is when the Troubleshooters from our sister station WPVI-TV called the company shown on Golding's credit card statement.

A representative told said the same thing Golding was told that the Facebook ad was for a "sweepstakes," not a purchase, and all the "terms and conditions" were disclosed online, including info about an "$81 a-month book club."

"And I said, 'No, I definitely read the fine print and there was nothing about a raffle," said Goldberg. "And I said, I know there was definitely nothing about a book club."

We did reach out to the Pennsylvania-based Hershey company, which said, "We are aware of fraudulent activity, and we're saddened by its impact on consumers. We're actively working with Facebook to protect consumers and reminding consumers that the only official place Hershey sells products directly to consumers is through [the] shop.hersheys.com website."

After the Troubleshooters got involved, Golding did get a full refund from her bank for both charges. She also canceled her credit card to make sure it doesn't get hit with another unauthorized charge.