In the last few days, a new one has spread on Facebook social scam who promises the gift of electric bikes worth 250 eurosattracting thousands of unsuspecting users. At first glance, everything seems authentic: the page that publishes the initiative presents itself as an officer, often with the name and logo of known brands in the sectorbut behind a well -organized fraudulent system is hidden.
Scammers invite people to comment, share a post and click on a linkwith the promise that, completing a few simple steps, you will receive a free one e-bike. The message leverages the urgency and illusion of a limited time promotion, as often states the text of the post.
We have 250 electric bikes in stock, who comments and shares will receive a free one.
The mechanism of the scam: from false pages to dangerous links
Once the user click on the proposed link, it is addressed to a external site which imitates the graphic aspect of an official page. Here he is asked to insert personal dataas a name, address, telephone number and sometimes even banking or payment information “to confirm the shipment”.
These data are then used for fraudulent purposes: from the theft of identity to the unaware registration to subscription services. In some cases, the site installs malware or collects sensitive information through systems of phishing.
The pages that promote these competitions are often created recently, have few followers and share this type of viral posts exclusively. Often the names are written similarly to those of famous brands, but with slight variations, such as inverted letters or added punctuation signs. Also, they are completely missing legal informationofficial addresses and links to verified sites.
How to defend yourself: the signals not to ignore to recognize the scams on Facebook
To avoid falling the victim of these Online scamsit is important to learn to recognize suspicious signals. First of all, always be wary of any message that promises too attractive prizes in exchange for trivial actions, such as commenting or sharing a post. The serious companies do not organize competitions in this way and above all they do not ask for sensitive data on unofficial sites.
Secondly, it is useful to check the reliability of the page that publishes the content: how long it has existed, what kind of content you shares, and if there are connections to a verified corporate website.
Finally, never click on suspicious links and never enter your personal data on pages that do not present the HTTPS security padlock or that have a strange or incomplete domain.
