Big travel brands used as bait for Facebook scams
Big name brands are being used as bait for Facebook fraudsters, much to the annoyance of the travel industry.
Posts offering false prizes with Butlin’s, Thomas Cook and Qantas are just some of the scams doing the rounds.
The website Hoax Slayer, which alerts consumers to fraudulent marketing campaigns, warns that all the scams are merely trying to trick people into submitting their personal details which are then shared with unscrupulous marketing companies.
Agents on the Facebook forum, Travel Gossip, have shared details of the scams, saying they can’t believe people fall for them.
One Facebook Page currently doing the rounds tells people to share and comment on a picture to win a golden envelope containing a prize.
Another, called ‘Butlins Fans’, urges readers to click a ‘Sign Up’ button for the chance to win a holiday for four people at any Butlin’s resort.
The page features a cut-off version of the Butlin’s logo along with videos~and images showing some of the company’s resorts.
The logo, videos, and photographs used on the scam page have been stolen from genuine Butlin’s websites and social media pages.
Another promises the chance to win Tenerife holidays and uses the Thomas Cook logo, videos and a photograph which is actually stolen from a report in a local Scottish newspaper, showing a team of agents in a Thomas Cook shop presenting their manager with a ‘Manager of the Year’ award.
The latest hoax involves Qantas and claims to be giving two free tickets to celebrate its 70th birthday.
Once users complete the survey, the site pretends to analyse answers before declaring everyone a winner of the free tickets.
Next, unwitting users are told they must ‘like’ and ‘share’ the webpage on Facebook and add the comment ‘Thanks for my tickets’, therefore spamming friends and family and spreading the scam further.
"Scams like this continue to be very common on Facebook and have used the names of not only Qantas but many other airlines around the world," said Hoax Slayer.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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