WhatsApp users are being warned of a viral scam that is currently going around. The scam offers users two free Emirates flight tickets if that fill out a “fast survey”. The link in the WhatsApp message appears to direct people to the Emirates website.
However, this is not true - those who click on the link will be redirected to another hoax site. It then asks users to take part in a fake survey. The survey asks questions such as: “Have you every travelled with Emirates” and “How often do you fly?”
Once completed users are then notified that they have “won” two free tickets. But to obtain the tickets, they have to share the survey with ten other WhatsApp users.
Once completed, the user is redirected to another webpage, which asks for them to confirm their details. In fact it asks the users to subscribe using their phone number to a premium message number and the cost of this will appear on the person’s telephone bill at the end of the month.
If the person goes on to complete all the steps, they are then redirected to a page which reads: “Thank you for attending the survey.
“You did not win, try again better luck.” During the survey stage there is a note in the terms and conditions, which states that there may be “third party offers” involving recurring costs.
The scam is currently going around in Spanish, English, German and Portuguese. WhatsApp users are being urged to check such offers directly with the company.
If you have been a victim of this scam or a similar one, you should uninstall any applications you have downloaded to your device and contact your network provider to check if you have been signed up to any premium SMS service.
