Yes, another holiday scam! Experts are warning Facebook users to be on the alert for a “Christmas bonus” scam which appears to be endorsed by their friends on the social network. It ain’t!
A good scam never really goes away and this one is no different. It’s has floating around on Facebook since 2015.
In the latest version users are being targeted by messages claiming to offer them a “Christmas bonus” or “Christmas benefit,” according to the non-profit Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC).
“Facebook users receive messages from individuals in their contact lists about winning a ‘Christmas bonus.’ The messages are coming from the cloned accounts of their friends, and state that the individual has won a Facebook Christmas Bonus Giveaway.” You didn’t!
“The targeted victim is then directed to contact a ‘Facebook Agent,’ who will send a message that [it] is a random contest sponsored by [legitimate US lottery game] Powerball.”
Every variation on this theme is a little different but the bottom line is scammers are trying to steal either your personal information or your money, or both.
Scammers will ask for your personal details in order to process the ‘bonus.’ They may also ask for a small ‘transfer fee’ in order to wire the winnings into the victim’s bank account. Ok, so you gonna pay money to get money. That’s a scam tip off right there!
The ITRC urges you to delete any such messages and let your friends know that their account may have been hijacked or cloned. They can also report any attempted fraud like this to Facebook.
