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WhatsApp scam: Beware of the subscription trap behind the Coca-Cola sweepstakes - it can be very expensive

2022-07-12T14:14:31.156Z


WhatsApp scam: Beware of the subscription trap behind the Coca-Cola sweepstakes - it can be very expensive Created: 07/12/2022Updated: 07/12/2022 16:08 By: Ines Baur A fake Coca-Cola sweepstakes is circulating via WhatsApp. Anyone who clicks on the attached link ends up in an expensive subscription trap. Munich/León – It's always the same scam: Criminals trick people with sweepstakes, raffles


WhatsApp scam: Beware of the subscription trap behind the Coca-Cola sweepstakes - it can be very expensive

Created: 07/12/2022Updated: 07/12/2022 16:08

By: Ines Baur

A fake Coca-Cola sweepstakes is circulating via WhatsApp.

Anyone who clicks on the attached link ends up in an expensive subscription trap.

Munich/León – It's always the same scam: Criminals trick people with sweepstakes, raffles or chain letters.

The corresponding WhatsApp messages contain links.

A user can click on these to take part in a supposed competition.

This is currently promised by a link on the occasion of the 130th anniversary of Coca-Cola.

But instead of great prizes, clicking on the link gets you into a subscription trap.

Anyone who clicks on the link, which usually begins with Tinyurl5.ru, and enters their personal data and bank details, completes a subscription to a service.

As a result, 43.50 euros are debited every 14 days, the Spanish National Cybersecurity Institute warns on its website.

Victims would be redirected to a fraudulent website, phishing, under the pretense of company 130th anniversary gifts.

Cyber ​​criminals keep using WhatsApp and the names of prominent companies for their scams. © Christoph Dernbach/dpa/dpa-tmn

Whatsapp scam, you don't win a fridge with that

Personal data would then be requested on the website in order to win a fuel card worth 500 euros, which should be valid at all Shell petrol stations.

Or there is said to be a Coca-Cola mini fridge.

"In reality, this is a subscription to a service that costs 43.50 euros every 14 days."

According to the Austrian portal

Mimikama.at

, the scam is not limited to Spain.

The competition is also to be distributed in German-speaking countries via WhatsApp.

Fraud via WhatsApp - Not the first and not the last time

netzwelt.de

also warns that this is not the first time that cybercriminals have used WhatsApp to scam people, rip them off or spread fake lotteries on behalf of large companies

.

Most recently, the hardware store Obi in the run-up to Father's Day and Milka before Easter were victims of such campaigns.

also read

Edeka and Netto affected by the hit-and-run campaign: Surprisingly, own-brand water was exchanged

"What did I buy there?": Absurd product on the receipt makes Edeka customers perplexed

In the case of the Austrian neighbors, Austrian Airlines and the Austrian Federal Railways were already a means to the end of criminal phishing attempts.

WhatsApp fraud: Check your bank account and credit card statement regularly

The institute advises anyone who has fallen for the Coca-Cola spam, accessed the link and given credit card details at some point, should contact their bank as soon as possible.

And further: "We recommend that you be vigilant and regularly check the information published about you on the Internet to prevent your private data being used without your consent."

Source: merkur

All life articles on 2022-07-12

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