With the holiday season rapidly approaching, it seems Facebook scammers are eager to take advantage of users desperate for a bargain.
We're seeing more and more Facebook survey scams using the lure of gift vouchers to trick users into clicking on their links.
Whether it's fake iTunes gift certificates or gift cards to save you money at ASDA, Tesco, Argos or Starbucks - Facebook users can't seem to resist falling for the bogus offers, which only serve to earn cash for the bad guys.
The latest scam spreading quickly on Facebook, claims to offer gift vouchers for Australian electronics chain JB Hi Fi.
Happy Christmas! Free $200 Jb Hi Fi Voucher!
[LINK]
In true holiday spirit, we have decided to give away 2000 vouchers to some of our loyal fans!
If you see one of your Facebook friends post a message like this, don't click on the link. Instead, contact your friend and tell they that they have fallen for a scam - maybe you can suggest that they read this article to find out more. :)
Because clicking on the link will not enter you into a draw for a $200 JB Hi Fi voucher. Instead, the very first thing it will force you to do is to share the link with all of your Facebook friends.
Why would you share a link on Facebook about something you haven't properly investigated yet? Sadly, too many people do.
Surprise surprise.. the webpage tells you that you're now one of the lucky people who has won the voucher. All you have to do is complete an online survey.
And there's the sting in the tail. The scammers earn money for every survey that is completed. Their job is to drive traffic to the online surveys, and you've just helped them by sharing the link with your Facebook friends.
Even if you complete the surveys, you're not going to receive that $200 gift voucher.
If you got hit by this scam, make sure you have removed the entries from your news feed (to stop them being shared amongst your friends) and check your profile does not have any unwanted "Likes" under your "Likes and interests".
If you use Facebook and want to get an early warning about the latest attacks, you should join the Sophos Facebook page where we have a thriving community of over 150,000 people.
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Is it not about time that the companies who pay for completed surveys stopped doing so. They must be aware, or at least suspect, that these scammers are abusing other users in order to make money. If they are doing genuine market research they should only be using reputable sources for the raw data, not paying any cheap jack scammer for it.
Perhaps if a few thousand of your readers could send an "Irritated Ex Customer" Email to the customer services department of those companies who are the subject of the surveys, they might just see the error of their ways.
They need to go after the people who pay these scammers to divert Internet traffic into these bogus surveys! I have mentioned this suggestion numerous times, and yet the scams just keep popping up! I for one am sick and tired of these scams, and the people who pay these scammers for completed surveys, and the participant who completes the survey, gets absolutely nothing but a headache, and in the process, spreading it around Facebook by being forced to "Share" it with everybody on their news feed! If these companies are shut down, then who will pay the scammers? That is the only way this nonsense will ever cease!
There's a similar scam currently doing the rounds for Dick Smith Electronics. People should be aware that the scammers will target any and all of the major retailers.
And what about Facebook for creating an environment that facilitates something like this? It seems that commercialism defeats security everywhere!
Regards,
I have the JBHIFI one and it will not let me remove app's, remove post's and locks up my FB. I cant remove the shared post because it will not give me the remove buootn. Any ideas anyone ? Thanks.