Free Gift Scam on Social Media!
In recent days social media become commonplace for fraudsters. They are using different types of phishing sites using some renewed brand names to attract peoples on the name of free gifts.
Last week, I got a link from my friend on WhatsApp, where it asking me to take a survey to claim free gifts from Daraz ( one of the largest E-commerce service provider in Bangladesh). I visit the link and got surprised to see the web page as it looked like the official Daraz website, they used the Daraz logo, brand color, fonts, etc. to copying the original Daraz site. And when I realized that it’s spam I close this site immediately and didn’t participate in the survey. In this morning, I got another link from one of a friend on Facebook and this time it shows free gift from Pepsi. If I enter the link and participate in the survey then I have a chance to win BDT 5000tk. I didn’t open the link even as I know it’s a fraud from previous experience
What you will experience in these fake sites?
When I opened the links a page opens, saying “ Congratulations, you have been chosen to participate in our survey. It will take only a minute, and you will receive a grand prize to support Daraz!. ( was written in Bangla) and similar massage I got from the “free gift from Pepsi” link as well. The webpage showed ‘It’s 20th anniversary of Pepsi and as a part of celebration if I take the survey, I have a chance to win BDT 5000.
Users are asked to answers questions like age, gender, etc. Once the user submits the answer, a number of gift box images will appear on the screen, and one has a fake gift. The website then asks users to share the quiz link to at least 20 friends or 5 groups on WhatsApp in order to claim the gift. and tells them to download an app or enter their address. The gift will then be delivered within 5–8 days.
How do you detect these fake websites?
01. Whenever someone sends you a link do not open it before checking the address of the link. For example, The official link of the Daraz website is daraz.com.bd but when I got the link of fake Daraz I saw it's not the same domain as the official Daraz. Similar experience with the fake Pepsi link. It is made by scammers to look similar to a valid URL. But if you take a close look at it, you will find unwanted characters on it.
02. If you open a fake site of free gifts its never redirect you to the home page and except for the survey part others options won’t work.
03. In these fake websites they generally read HTTP not HTTPS in the beginning. The S is important as it indicates the link is secure. Phishing links, scam websites usually do not rely on the secure protocol.
Lastly, want to say that, giving any information on such websites is very dangerous as it can lead you to loss of your personal data and financial fraud. Sometimes hackers use those links to install malware. It’s best to visit the official website and confirm.
Be aware and Be safe