Ohio - A recent trend on social media has seen posts offering free food in exchange for completing a survey. These posts have been appearing frequently in a Facebook group for Columbiana County, which prompted 21 News to investigate further.

The posts appear helpful and promise free groceries to families in need. They claim to be tied to food assistance groups, but the food is never provided.

The post instructs users to click on the link attached to the post to get the location for the food giveaway. After clicking the link, users are directed to a USA assistance Guide website. It asks for an email address before taking users to a survey.

However, once the information is submitted, a location is not given. The company that owns the page is actually collecting users' personal information.

Threat analyst for Emsisoft Luke Connolly explained why this is happening. 

"Because they're monetizing the information somehow, if they're using it for an upstream mail list, there's some value to them to have a large list of people's information." Connolly said. 

The personal data is collected for third parties to sell items to the users.

The owners of that website is C4R Media Corp, a business that is not accredited by the Better Business Bureau which has given them an F rating. The company is also facing a lawsuit in Ohio over their business practices in an similar matter.

Their tactics on Facebook, though, may not necessarily be illegal. According to their terms and conditions, after user information is submitted, the company has the right to distribute it.

"It's really important for everyone to remember that personal information really has value." Connolly said.