- Oct 23, 2012
- 12,527
With Christmas getting closer, cyber-crooks do not waste a day without devising new baits to attract a large number of victims. One of the latest ones starts with a message claiming that retailers Argos and Tesco are giving away a large number of Samsung 4k Ultra HD Curved TVs.
The number of devices the two companies are allegedly laying on the line is 250, which makes the bait even more attractive as it implies that the victim actually has a chance to the prize.
Crooks try to make a page popular in order to sell it
More than this, entering the raffle does not suppose too much effort from the registrant: all they have to do is share the giveaway message, post a comment, and show their support for the campaign by liking the “official” page.
OTA reports that this is a cybercriminal attempt to make a page popular enough so that it can be sold for a large amount of money. This type of activity is called “like-farming” because the scammers trick users in order to increase the number of likes artificially.
The fake post was available in two locations on Facebook, but one of the pages has been taken down already. The other, on the other hand, is still active and has gathered more than 13,000 likes.
The scammy page received almost 500 likes and about 250 people have left a comment; it seems that it has been shared only twice and it has only one post. Most of the Facebook users that fell for the trap expressed their enthusiasm at the thought of winning one of the television sets.
However, the message advertising the giveaway has almost 11,000 comments, close to 32,000 likes, and has been shared more than 53,000 times. And there is more than one Facebook page for this particular fraud, with numbers almost double than these.
Online surveys are often associated with this type of fraud
Judging by the date of the posts, it appears that the scam started on Saturday, November 6.
It may appear that this is a harmful deceit, but it is important to note that when the page is sold, all the content on it passes to the new owner. This means that the entire list of commenters is also passed on, making them potential targets for other scams.
Also, OTA says that Facebook users also have to complete an online survey. By doing this, they are fattening the pockets of the cybercriminals.
In some cases, completing surveys also involves disclosing some personal information that would help with creating the final statistics. This data could be something like the personal phone number or an email address, which can be used in spam campaigns.
Users are advised to verify an offer or a campaign that sounds very appealing on the official pages of the organizers, the Facebook pages of Tesco and Argos in this case.
The number of devices the two companies are allegedly laying on the line is 250, which makes the bait even more attractive as it implies that the victim actually has a chance to the prize.
Crooks try to make a page popular in order to sell it
More than this, entering the raffle does not suppose too much effort from the registrant: all they have to do is share the giveaway message, post a comment, and show their support for the campaign by liking the “official” page.
OTA reports that this is a cybercriminal attempt to make a page popular enough so that it can be sold for a large amount of money. This type of activity is called “like-farming” because the scammers trick users in order to increase the number of likes artificially.
The fake post was available in two locations on Facebook, but one of the pages has been taken down already. The other, on the other hand, is still active and has gathered more than 13,000 likes.
The scammy page received almost 500 likes and about 250 people have left a comment; it seems that it has been shared only twice and it has only one post. Most of the Facebook users that fell for the trap expressed their enthusiasm at the thought of winning one of the television sets.
However, the message advertising the giveaway has almost 11,000 comments, close to 32,000 likes, and has been shared more than 53,000 times. And there is more than one Facebook page for this particular fraud, with numbers almost double than these.
Online surveys are often associated with this type of fraud
Judging by the date of the posts, it appears that the scam started on Saturday, November 6.
It may appear that this is a harmful deceit, but it is important to note that when the page is sold, all the content on it passes to the new owner. This means that the entire list of commenters is also passed on, making them potential targets for other scams.
Also, OTA says that Facebook users also have to complete an online survey. By doing this, they are fattening the pockets of the cybercriminals.
In some cases, completing surveys also involves disclosing some personal information that would help with creating the final statistics. This data could be something like the personal phone number or an email address, which can be used in spam campaigns.
Users are advised to verify an offer or a campaign that sounds very appealing on the official pages of the organizers, the Facebook pages of Tesco and Argos in this case.
