Supermarket chain, Sainsbury's, is warning customers about a new gift card scam that is currently being shared on WhatsApp.
The message states that users can get a £250 gift card if they fill in a survey and pass the message on to 10 of their friends.However, there is no gift card and the message is actually a way for cyber thieves to gain personal data from unsuspecting users.
Twitter is full of customers worried about the message and the advice from supermarket is simple, "This isn’t an official Sainsbury’s communication and you should ignore/delete it without replying."
Sadly, some people have already be duped by the scam with one customer tweeting the chain saying: "So I filled in your survey for £250, sent a whatsapp to 10 friends as asked and then got an error message!"
Although the URL listed in the text appears to direct users to Sainsbury's website, it is a scam webpage designed to trick WhatsApp users into handing over personal information.
The malicious link will install cookies on the victim's smartphone, or download a browser extension which can be used to serve more adverts to them – generating revenue for the cybercriminals behind the text messages, according to security researchers.
ESET security specialist Mark James told Express.co.uk: "Sadly people still fall for these types of scams, they are tricked and teased into following a link from their favourite social media app without actually recognising the dangers.
The message states that users can get a £250 gift card if they fill in a survey and pass the message on to 10 of their friends.However, there is no gift card and the message is actually a way for cyber thieves to gain personal data from unsuspecting users.
Twitter is full of customers worried about the message and the advice from supermarket is simple, "This isn’t an official Sainsbury’s communication and you should ignore/delete it without replying."
Sadly, some people have already be duped by the scam with one customer tweeting the chain saying: "So I filled in your survey for £250, sent a whatsapp to 10 friends as asked and then got an error message!"
Although the URL listed in the text appears to direct users to Sainsbury's website, it is a scam webpage designed to trick WhatsApp users into handing over personal information.
The malicious link will install cookies on the victim's smartphone, or download a browser extension which can be used to serve more adverts to them – generating revenue for the cybercriminals behind the text messages, according to security researchers.
ESET security specialist Mark James told Express.co.uk: "Sadly people still fall for these types of scams, they are tricked and teased into following a link from their favourite social media app without actually recognising the dangers.
"They are usually presented with an offer of freebies with little or no effort on their own behalf.""Once on the page all manner of malware could potentially await them, this could include but is not limited to potential phishing attacks to obtain your personal or private information, installation of malware, harvesting your details for spam attacks or displaying inappropriate pictures or videos."
