Zuckerberg giving out iPhones and iPads? Just a scam, folks

Facebook users, be warned. And you too, Apple fanboys and fangirls: a new scam claims the social networking giant is giving away free Apple iPhones and iPads to randomly chosen people.

 

Computer security firm Sophos said the scam involves spam messages sent to victims, claiming to come from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

 

“My name is Mark Zuckerberg, Chief Executive Officer of Facebook. We have recently partnered up with Apple company for a one-time promotional event today, we are giving away free Apple iPhones and iPads to randomly selected individuals who have been fortunate to be picked as one of our newest winners for today. We randomly selected users from our systems database and you have matched with our latest drawing,” a Sophos blog post quoted part of the spam message as saying.

 

The message claims to run the promo for one day only, and urges recipients to “CLICK HERE” to check a website made for this promotion - and fill out a short survey to.

 

Clicking on the link leads the recipient to an online competition claiming he or she is a “potential winner.”

 

But Sophos also pointed out the small print on the website stipulates that responding to the survey is also signing up for a mobile phone subscription service charging £4.50 a week.

 

“The motivation of the spam message claiming to come from Mark Zuckerberg, is to drive traffic to online competitions and surveys like this - the spammers will earn affiliate commission every time they trick someone into signing up,” Sophos said.

 

It advised netizens to check for clues that can ring alarm bells – in this case, “Mark Zuckerberg” writing from a Hotmail address. — TJD, GMA News