Harvey Norman and major retailers hit by Facebook vouchers scam
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Coles and Woolies has also been hit, and two of the retailers have put notices alerting consumers of the phishing scam on their Facebook pages.
The online phishing scam entices consumers on Facebook with a fake $400 and $500 vouchers claiming to be from the retailers, and once a user has clicked the offer it proceeds to ask for either personal, credit card or banking details.
The scam inviting consumers via SM, email or Facebook to ‘Get a Free $400 Woolworths voucher’ is a fake, it confirmed on a Facebook post, and leads consumers to a dodgy woolworthsfree.net site (or harveynorman.org), and asks unsuspecting consumers to complete three easy steps and then share the deal with friends on Facebook.
It also asks for personal details but looks legit with ‘official’ company logos so its easy to see how consumers would be fooled.
Such scams have done the rounds in Oz before and Coles alerted customers to the scam last month. Fairfax is reporting the scam originated in Albania.
Harvey Norman confirmed “we’ve been receiving notifications about another voucher scam from “harveynormanDOTorg,” on a Facebook post last week.
“Please be advised that this page is NOT affiliated with Harvey Norman. If you are directed there, please leave immediately to avoid contracting malware or having your personal details stolen. We ask that you stay cautious of questionable apps and sites, especially as we get closer to Christmas “
It appears in the case of Woolworths, some have fallen for the scam already which may also infect PCs with malware.
“I opened the link in the $400 voucher post and 3 minutes later for the first time ever I received spam from my Whatsapp. I know that the post is a scam but does anyone know if merely clicking on the link give the scammers some personal details such as your phone number?” one disgruntled consumer wrote on Woolies’ Facebook page.
“I was caught out too. Thought perhaps it was too good to be true” another said.
Report a scam to ACCC here
