It's that time of the year when WhatsApp has been heavily criticised for handling its fake news and the privacy of its users. Adding more woes, a fake WhatsApp message has been doing rounds which lures customers that they will get free gifts from ecommerce platform Amazon on its 30th anniversary.


COMMERCIAL BREAK
SCROLL TO CONTINUE READING

“Amazon 30th anniversary celebrations – Free gifts for everyone from www.amazon.com". When users click the message, it says: “Congratulations, you have been chosen to participate in our survey. It will take only a minute, and you will receive a fantastic prize: a Huawei Mate 40 Pro 5G Full Netcom 8GB + 256GB (bright black),” the message read.


This message carries a survey which when filled aims to improve the quality of service for users and there’s a particular time frame for completing the survey. The survey includes questions on gender, age, quality of Amazon service, and the smartphone platform that the individual is using.


The next step is to open the boxes for the free gift and once a user “wins” the gift, it asks him/her to share it with five WhatsApp groups or 20 friends. It asks for a few personal questions as the individual needs to download an app and enter the address to receive the free gift.


This could potentially harm the privacy of an individual and if we go by the experts' view, this scam has the potential to extract personal details which could defraud you or for identity theft.


It’s always advisable to cross-check the address of the link as Amazon doesn’t send such messages and the link mentioned is Gamevip.xyz. It can also prove to be a trap that is used by cybercriminals to hack your system. However, a user always have a choice to remove or block it.