Have you been invited to an event called “Zara 500€ Tarjetas de regalo”? Beware! it is a new scam which subscribes the users to PREMIUM SMS services.
Cybercriminals have used the name of the well known Inditex brand as a bait, and social engineering technics to reach out to the largest possible number of users, through Facebook events.
Here is how it works:
“Zara 500€ Tarjetas de regalo”, new scam on Facebook
1. You receive the invitation to the event from one of your friends on Facebook. The bait is powerful, the raffle of a Zara 500€ gift card.
2. You are asked to invite at least 25 friends. The more friends you invite, the more chances you have of winning. A good way to achieve a massive number of attendees to the event.
3. Then you have to leave a comment on the event, praising the brand. No doubt this step tries to fool the user further. Up until now, everything is normal and logical.
4. Last step, access this site: http://zaracard.com/ and register. To do so, you need to enter your mobile phone number. In this last step the scam is fulfilled, because when the user enters the number, the victim is subscribed to a Premium SMS service.
On this web we are asked for a quick check to finish the registration process. If we pay attention, we will see that on the site where we are asked for our number, we can read some terms and conditions where we are explained that we will be subscribed to a Premium SMS service.
We can also enter in a second site, where we are promised to enter some Apple products raffle, just by entering our personal data.
This type of Premium SMS related scams is more and more common every day, both from websites and apps.
How can we avoid these kind of scams?
- It is key to use our common sense
- Check the URL, Is it the one you expected? is it related to the brand it promotes?
- Never enter unnecessary data. In this case, why is it needed to enter the mobile number?
- Don’t trust the source. Even when the invitation or link has been sent by a friend or contact,… Is there any reference to the promotion from the oficial site of the brand? In the case of Zara, there was not.
Have you fallen for this type of fraud or know anyone that might? You could have something similar in your country. Contact your provider as soon as possible and unsubscribe to the service.