A chocolate company warned social media users of a new phishing scam that lures people to sign up for a ‘free’ chocolate hamper.
Thousands of WhatsApp users accidentally signed up for a ‘free’ chocolate hamper, leaving them heavily out of pockets.
The scam is advertised as a product from Cadbury’s but the company has no such information on its official website.
A spokesperson for the chocolate giant told The Sun: “Please beware of a phishing scam circulating via WhatsAppp that states Cadbury is giving away free chocolate hampers, encourages recipients to take part in a survey and then share the link with ten friends.
“This is a scam and not associated with Cadbury. Promotions of this kind will always be announced on Cadbury’s official channels.
“We do not advise fans to take part in the survey, share personal data or share the message within their networks.”
The scam works by giving users a survey to fill-out to get the free chocolate hamper. It then takes users to a page where they must share the link with their friends to continue.
Below it says more than 17,000 people have liked the offer, with many users expressing their appreciation for receiving the free hamper. However, 3 out of four commenters have poor written English and have the surname ‘Smith.’ A counter also says ‘only 85 left’ to urge people to take the bait.
The page then takes users to a page called ‘modo alerts’ where people have to click ‘join now’ and agree to the pricing and terms.
The terms say joining would enable people to send text messages for £1.50 and a maximum of 3 per week, which could cost them more than £200 a year.
Richard Merrygold of iSTORM Solutions said such schemes were not uncommon and were actually legitimate.
“It’s a clever scam as often people don’t notice the fees until they check their phone bill. If you sign up you’re probably stuck in for a time and will then have to pay to opt-out,” he expressed.
“Sadly, these are not uncommon and while extremely unfair, they are legitimate.”
Merrygold added: “If you have signed up, then I’d say don’t feel silly or be hard on yourself. They are clever scams, which take in many people, and if it didn’t work they wouldn’t do it.”
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Replaced!