Beware of fake Tesco gift certificate email and Facebook scam

6 Sep 2012

Internet users have been warned that emails and Facebook wall posts offering Tesco vouchers are an actual scam that cyber-criminals are using to direct users to fraudulent websites.

Security player ESET has warned Irish internet users that cyber-criminals are always using brands to attract attention and give the veneer of credibility.

This time it’s the turn of Tesco and new emails and wall posts offering vouchers is actually a fraudulent information-gathering exercise.

One variation of the scam comes in the form of an email, claiming Tesco is offering a €50 gift certificate if you fill out its survey, which includes asking unsuspecting users for their credit card details.

According to ESET’s Urban Schrott, another scam is making the rounds on Facebook. A post on your friend’s wall claims to offer “Free Tesco vouchers”, calling to action by saying there are only a few left.

“If you click, you’re likely to spam your friends with the same message, while the link you are taken to will only try to infect your computer with adware and unwanted apps, get you into survey scams or redirect you to some other fraudulent site,” Schrott warned.

Below: A fake email purporting to be a Tesco voucher offer (note the German domain on the address). If it’s too good to be true, it probably isn’t, folks

screenshot

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com