exit cast: $50,000 Facebook Reward Survey Scam

Thursday, July 5, 2012

$50,000 Facebook Reward Survey Scam

Outline
Message purporting to be a Facebook User Notice, claims that the recipient has won $50,000 in a Facebook Instant Winner reward and should click a link to confirm his or her email address.

Analysis
The message is not from Facebook and the claim that the recipient has won $50,000 is untrue. Those who click the link will be taken to a "prize" website that asks for their email address. After submitting their address, users are then enticed into participating in various "surveys" or "offers, supposedly as a means of qualifying for a free gift voucher. Participation requires users to submit further personal information including full address and contact details.

Some of the offers or surveys require users to provide a mobile phone number as a prerequisite for participating in a prize draw. However, by providing their mobile number, users are in fact subscribing to very expensive SMS services that charge several dollars per text message sent and are often difficult to unsuscribe from.

The supposed $50,000 prize is not mentioned again after the initial scam email. This promised prize is simply the bait used to trick the unwary into clicking the link in the bogus message. Nor will users ever receive the promised gift voucher no matter how many surveys or offers they participate in.

Such survey scams are very common on Facebook and are often distributed via email as well. The scammers who create these bogus promotions will earn commissions via suspect affiliate marketing schemes each and every time a victim completes an offer or participates in a survey. Victims may also be faced with large phone bills for unwanted mobile phone services and, because they have provided name and contact details, they may be inundated with unwanted promotional emails, phone calls and junk mail.

If you receive one of these messages, either via Facebook or email, do not follow any links that it contains.