Your contact on Whatsapp might have sent you link about winning a free Galaxy Note 8 and you probably clicked on it.
The message went on like:
hurry up!! i just got samsung note 8 for free only few left get yours here>> ~> http://note8.winsprof.com/
When you click on the link, you a greeted with a wheel of fortune and a congratulatory message
To add more authenticity, this site has a familiar Facebook layout to trick users. It even shows more than 15,000 people who have liked the content.
But what you may not easily realize is:
- The number of likes remains constant it doesn’t increase even after visiting the site several times
- The site indicates that the last person to like the content did so about 54 minutes ago, but even if you visit the same site after an hour, the time still remains to be 54 minutes, that’s absurd
- Clicking on commands such as: like, comment, share ,delete, view more comments and nothing works
Playing on further
The spinning wheel plays tricks to the user by giving out two chances of spinning, on the first round it ensures that the spinning wheel doesn’t land on the Galaxy Note 8, but the second spin will automatically land on the Galaxy Note 8 icon and displays the following.
First time unlucky
You are sure to win it on a second try
Immediately a congratulatory message appears, telling you that you have won a Galaxy Note 8, but with conditions, that you need to invite 30 Whatsapp friends or groups in order to claim your prize.
Trick to invite (annoy) more of your Whatsapp friends
As you unwittingly forward the message to your friends, the URL of the site changes to http://cowboy2u.com
Immediately you are informed that you need to enter your mobile phone number.
Premium Rate Message
While you might not read the fine print at the bottom of the page, you will find that you are being subscribed to a premium rate content that will charge you KSH 30 per Message. The instructions will guide you to continue accepting the content as you continue hoping to redeem your Galaxy note 8.
Security Review of the Site
A security review the link on VirusTotal showed that the link is both a phishing site and a malicious link.
When you check on when the site was registered, it was done on August 5th 2017, The same time Galaxy Note 8 was registered.
There is more to be “Won”
Well a google search on the website shows that if you are not a Samsung fan, then you could fall for the Iphone X or Iphone 8
If you are a motor vehicle enthusiast, you could fall for the German automobiles in BMW or Mercedes.
Nothing for Free
So every time you come across such sites, that offers free things think twice and always remember, there is no such thing as a free lunch. Just don’t be a “Phish” on the internet and if you fall for such tricks don’t forward it to you contacts.