Fake meal vouchers for Wetherspoon pubs are being promoted on Facebook, despite the chain shutting all its social media accounts in 2018.
Facebook users who comment on the posts published by the fake Wetherspoon pages are told they will win meal vouchers if they receive comments from Wetherspoon. But these comments come from scammers who have set up the pages.
The posts read ‘Congratulations for those of you who have received comments from us, you have the opportunity to win them’. You are then asked to like and share the post with your friends.
Sadly, it’s bogus.
The link leads to an unrelated page.
If you think you’ve spotted a social media scam, follow these steps to protect yourself:
Is the deal ‘too good to be true’? – If the deal or competition looks too good to be true, it probably is. A quick Google search will tell you if the legitimate company is promoting the giveaway.
- Check the URL – If you’ve followed a link, does the URL look suspicious? If it does, leave the site.
- Check your social timeline – Is there a high number of people posting or sharing the same thing? They may have been scammed.
- Check the branding – scammers are becoming more and more sophisticated but there might be giveaways such as inconsistencies in the branding that could give them away.
- Send a message – if someone you know has posted or shared something suspicious, ask them. Send them a message to make sure – it may have been intentional.
- Contact the company directly – Reach out to the company on social media, via email or over the phone to check whether the competition or giveaway is real.
Scammers try to exploit the credibility of social media advertising but our how to spot a social media scam advice can help you stay one step ahead.
Source: Which?
