WhatsApp scam messages give away fake £100 vouchers for Sainsbury’s and Topshop, steal people's data
It's safest just to assume that any message you receive is risky at best
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.WhatsApp users are receiving messages that look far too good to be true – and are just that. People are being hit by a sinister new hack that sees them offered free money and then actually leads them to have their data stolen.
The messages arriving on people’s phones look innocent, and appear to come from friends and family. They offer £100 of gift cards for shops like Sainsbury’s or Topshop, and usually claim that the sender has already claimed their £100.
But the messages are in fact a scam that could see people’s phone’s hijacked, their personal information stolen and their money being put at risk. The link in the message appears to be a way of claiming the £100, but actually is a way of getting hold of people’s phones.
Most of the messages read: “Hey have you heard about this? Sainsbury's is giving away £100 gift cards”, though some of them swap the name of the shop around. The rest of the message claims that the company is “extending” its “store network” and so giving away vouchers as a way of promoting themselves.
To actually claim that money, people are usually sent to a link that looks legitimate, including the supposed address of a Sainsbury’s website. But it is actually hidden, sending people to a fake link that will probably steal their information.
Clicking on any link is risky, and should only be done when the message is legitimate. Doing so can put people at risk in a variety of ways – the most common of which is phishing, where the website on the end of the link looks legitimate and asks for information like passwords, but actually sends that off to a hacker or somebody else malicious.
As such, people are being advised to beware of the malicious messages and never to click on the link. In fact, it is safest just to delete the message entirely, making sure that you’re never able to accidentally click on it.
As a rule, it’s best to assume that any link that’s ever sent to you is risky – especially if it’s sent through a text message or WhatsApp. You can make sure by looking at the address, and in extreme circumstances getting in touch with the company before giving away any information.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments