British Airways Voucher Giveaway Facebook Scam
The original site is no longer online; links go to the Internet Archive copy.
The claim
A post used in an earlier version of the scam:
What the fact-checkers found
Image: © kunertus/depositphotos.com
This story was first published on October 29, 2015
Yet another airline ticket giveaway scam is hitting Facebook. This version claims that British Airways is giving away airline ticket vouchers worth £500 as a means of celebrating its anniversary.
The post invites you to click to claim your voucher.
But, alas, the post is just a typical ruse to trick you into spamming your friends and supplying your personal information on suspect survey websites. The post is not associated with British Airways and you will not receive any voucher or airline tickets by participating.
If you click on the post, you will be taken to a fraudulent web page and told that you must follow two steps to get your British Airways voucher.
Step 1 instructs you to add the comment “Thanks for my voucher”. Step 2 instructs you to click a Facebook Share button. If you carry out these twos steps, you will be helping the scammers promote the fraudulent giveaway across Facebook and exposing all of your friends to the scam as well.
After carrying out these steps, you can click a button labelled ‘Continue’. Clicking the button opens one of several third-party survey web pages that are intent on getting your personal information. The survey sites ask you to provide your name, email address, phone number, and home address. But, a statement on the page will inform you that your information will be shared with site sponsors and third-party marketers. Thus, after participating, you will likely begin receiving unwanted phone calls, emails, and surface letters promoting various products and services.
Meanwhile, the scammers who created the fake British Airways giveaway promotion will earn affiliate commissions each time somebody provides their information on one of the survey sites.
These scams are very common on Facebook and they have used the names of several major airlines around the world. Be very wary of any Facebook message that claims that you can get free airline tickets, vouchers, or other valuable prizes just by sharing and participating in surveys.
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