A new scam is making the rounds, preying on shoppers ahead of the Black Friday sales this week.
It’s not unusual at this time of year for businesses and retailers to be running sales or competitions online. But these have provided the perfect opportunity for scammers to slip into your inbox unnoticed.
Scammers are using these events to fleece participants and get them to hand over their private information.
Australian digital marketing agency CJ&CO recently told news.com.au they have experienced a new scam while they were running a giveaway competition through a client’s Facebook and Instagram pages.
“A would-be overseas scammer tried to ruin this festive giveaway and scam their beloved customers for their private information and possibly trying to get access to their bank accounts,” the company said.
The scammer had created a perfect copy of the client’s Facebook and Instagram pages, as well as the client’s main website.
The scammers then began messaging customers who had commented on the original (real) giveaway page, telling them they had won the competition.
“And it was surprising to see how quickly they initiated the whole scam. From Facebook to landing pages, they had created a copy of our client’s pages to lure in customers.”
To claim the prize, the customers were told they had to sign in to the link attached to the message, which redirected them to a website where they were told to “register” their details.
“Once the customers click on the ‘Register’ button, they are taken to the Sign Up page, where the site requests email addresses and passwords,” CJ&CO said.
“And in most instances, we keep using the same password for everything because it’s easier to remember.
“In this scenario, the scammers get access to email accounts that are often linked with bank accounts, credit cards etc.”
Have you received any suspicious online messages lately?
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