In today’s digital landscape, everyone must exercise caution online. The amount of information we share online can increase our risk, and participating in competitions and giveaways can be good fun, but we need to consider if we are oversharing our information, which can make us vulnerable if it falls into the wrong hands.
Promises of luxurious holidays or cutting-edge tech gadgets entice potential entrants. Yet, some of these giveaways are scams, cunningly disguised as legitimate promotions from renowned brands or influencers, taking advantage of our trust.
On social media platforms, fraudulent competitions or giveaways employ different scams that victims with tailored messages, requiring participants to like posts, leave comments, and tag friends for wider visibility. Subsequently, these criminals initiate contact through direct messaging, luring entrants to click on links redirecting to counterfeit websites designed to extract sensitive information, such as banking details.
Some red flags to look out for when it comes to spotting fake giveaways or competitions include:
- If it sounds or seems too good to be true, if the prize is extravagant or little effort is required to win it could be a scam.
- Bad spelling and grammar or a writing style that doesn’t seem genuine including excessive use of emojis and $ signs.
- Check the social media profile hosting the competition as this can be a tell-tale sign of a genuine competition, if there is little to no information on the page then this is likely to be a fake giveaway.
- Be wary of any competition or giveaway that requires demanding entry requirements such as requesting excessive personal information, downloading other appts or completion of tasks.
- If there are no clear rules outlining the entry criteria, eligibility and prize details of the giveaway, it could be a scam so proceed with caution.
If however, you do still experience an attack, you want to make sure your employees know how to handle the situation. Ensuring they know how to report scams is the first step in this process. The contact details for reporting scams can be found below.
- Website: www.actionfraud.police.uk
- Phone: 0300 123 2040
You can also utilise our 24/7 incident response whereby we offer comprehensive guidance and support. We also work with partners such as the National Cyber Security Centre who have guidance on how to spot and report adverts such as competition and giveaway scams and Action Fraud who can offer 24/7 advice in these scenarios.
The North East Business Resilience Centre is a police-led, not-for-profit organisation that provides 24/7 cyber security support to SMEs in the region. Sign up for their free core membership online.