‘Win a Disney Cruise’ Facebook Scam

The Page is fraudulent and has no connection to Disney Cruise Line. There is no prize. The fake Page is designed to trick Facebook users into subscribing to expensive SMS ‘services’ or calling premium rate phone numbers.

This Facebook Page, which calls itself ‘Disney Cruises.’, promises you the chance to win a Disney Cruise. Note that the full stop is part of the name. At the time of writing, the Page has only one post (shown above) that advises you to click to enter for a chance to win. The Page features the Disney Cruise Line logo as its profile image.

However, the Facebook Page has no connection to Disney Cruise Line and it is not giving away the promised cruise prize. In fact, the Page is a scam that tries to trick you into subscribing to expensive SMS services or calling a premium phone number that will charge you several dollars per minute.

If you click the fake prize post, you will be taken to a a webpage that has been built to look like it is part of Facebook (see second screenshot above). The page first asks if you are a resident of the United States.

If you click ‘yes’, you will be taken to a third-party website that first asks for your name and phone number and then instructs you to call a premium rate phone number for a chance to win various prizes. You can earn points by calling the premium rate number and answering as many questions as possible. However, you will be charged several dollars for every minute that you stay on the prize line.

If you click ‘no’ you will be taken to a third-party website that promises access to various HTML5 games in exchange for supplying your mobile phone number. However, if you do supply your phone number and then enter the PIN that is sent to your number, you will in fact be subscribing to an ongoing SMS service that will charge you several dollars each time it sends you a message.

And, neither of these third-party sites will ever give you the chance to win the promised Disney Cruise. The fraudsters who create the fake Facebook Page will earn commissions each time somebody participates on one of the third-party sites.

The bogus webpage also asks UK residents to click a separate link. The link opens another fraudulent ‘cruise’ Facebook Page aimed specifically at UK residents.

Note that the genuine Facebook Page for Disney cruises is called ‘Disney Cruise Line’ not ‘Disney Cruises.’ and features Facebook’s blue ‘Verified’ icon. Scammers often create fake Facebook Pages with names that include punctuation marks such as full stops. This ruse allows them to create Pages with names very similar to the Facebook Page of the company that they are targeting.

Disney is regularly targeted in Facebook like-farming and survey scams. Be very cautious of any Facebook Page or post that claims to be associated with Disney and offers expensive Disney prizes in exchange for liking and sharing or participating in surveys.

Official Disney Facebook Pages will likely feature Facebook’s ‘verified’ icon beside their Page names.