How many times has it happened to you? You are trying to access a page or reading an article in your phone's browser when, suddenly, you are redirected - for no apparent reason or reason - to a page where you are offered to participate in a contest with a succulent prize . A fake contest, with which the only thing they are after is scamming you a few euros or obtaining personal data through a perverse procedure.
Well, it happened to us this morning, reading an article in a common newspaper. We got to the article redirected from a Facebook post, but little could we imagine that, without letting us finish that reading, a Facebook-linked scam attempt would appear before us .
Once inside, this pernicious system does not let you go back to return to the article you were reading (which will be lost in the immensity of this mess) and, most importantly, flee from the scam with which someone - which of course is not Facebook - is trying to hunt you down.
A fraudulent Facebook contest with a very real design
Unfortunately, the scammers of this threat that appeared before us this morning have a look that can easily confuse Facebook users, whether they are experienced or not. The cybercriminals behind this time have faithfully recreated the appearance of the screen , to make it appear that it is Facebook. However, this is not the case.
They have also taken care to include graphics very similar to those that Facebook usually uses, in which there are drawings of people celebrating. But nothing you see is real or official. In the text that appears on the screen, whose authorship they intend to associate with Facebook, it indicates that the social network is holding a rewards event that will last 7 days.
There is, however, another modality in which they promise to choose up to 10 lucky visitors at random every Friday, to give them a gift. Most likely, what appears before you is a kind of popup or pop-up window in which they congratulate you for having the opportunity to participate in said contest . A full-blown fraud.
On the one hand they say that they are rewarding users who have been loyal to Facebook. On the other hand, they indicate that they are celebrating the fourteenth birthday of Mark Zuckerberg's social network. What they ask users is to spin a kind of roulette with prizes. None of this is true, so if a message of these characteristics appears, forget about it. Run forward and don't look back: it's a SCAM with all the letters.
Tips to avoid these types of scams
1. The first thing you should do is be alert to any invitation to contests, prizes, and other falsehoods. Keep in mind that Facebook does not usually carry out any type of contest , or reward the loyalty of users who inhabit this social network. Run away from any proposal of these characteristics.
2. Take a good look at the links that appear in the browser's address box. Most likely it is a fraudulent URL. Although this is not easy to detect with the naked eye , you will see that the address has little or nothing to do with the official Facebook.
3. Do not give your personal information and much less information about your cards or bank accounts. It is very likely that these types of scammers will ask you, with the excuse of helping you collect the prize.
4. Do not forward these types of scams to your contacts. On many occasions, to make the propagation more effective, users are asked to share these messages. Don't contribute to making this snowball bigger.
5. Lastly, if you have any doubts about the nature of this scam, contact the National Police or the Civil Guard directly . Surely they can also help you.