Yet another scam is reportedly spreading like wildfire on the social networking giant, Facebook. The latest scam is circulating with the title – “THIS WEEK ONLY! $100 Applebee’s Gift Card Giveaway!” followed by a message – “Visit our site to get a complimentary $100 gift card and enjoy your favourites at any Applebees in the country. Have a great start to the new year!” is enticing people to click on the message link, which will direct them to a bogus web page.
Clicking on the scam link will take the user to a page that is designed to look exactly like a Facebook page. However, take a close look at the URL in the address bar before you click anything. Yes, the page you have visited is not a genuine Facebook page, but a fake page where the scammer tries to trick visitors to click on links and answer online surveys.
It is likely that you may end up downloading or installing malicious and rogue browser plugins. It’s recommended that you stay away from clicking anything on the site.
Note: The scam uses multiple domains. You may see variations in the landing pages, but they are all the same.
Scammers trick users by posting content like this in order to get users complete online surveys. Sometimes, they try to extract your personal information as well as financial details, like credit card number or bank account number. Entering these details will pose serious threats to your accounts, so please avoid entering your credentials.
I suggest you to remove the scam from your news feed by clicking on the X mark on the top-right corner of the post. Alternatively you can report the scam to the Facebook Security team.
As a precautionary measure, always check which applications you use and remove unwanted or suspicious ones. If you aren’t sure how to do it, you can always check our guide on removing apps from Facebook. In addition to that, don’t forget to check out our article about Avoiding Facebook Lifejacking and Clickjacking scams.
Bookmark Techie Buzz Facebook Scams. We always keep you updated with the latest scams spreading on Facebook.
