{"id":93089,"date":"2018-12-13T12:46:19","date_gmt":"2018-12-13T20:46:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/securingtomorrow.mcafee.com\/?p=93089"},"modified":"2025-08-19T08:15:54","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T15:15:54","slug":"volkswagen-giveaway-scam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/tips-tricks\/volkswagen-giveaway-scam\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Stay Secure from the Latest Volkswagen Giveaway Scam"},"content":{"rendered":"

You’re scrolling through Facebook and receive a message notification. You open it and see it’s from Volkswagen, claiming that the company will be giving away 20 free vehicles before the end of the year. If you think you’re about to win a new car, think again. This is likely a fake Volkswagen phishing scam<\/a><\/u>, which has been circulating social media channels like WhatsApp and Facebook, enticing hopeful users looking to acquire a new ride.<\/p>\n

This fake Volkswagen campaign<\/a>\u00a0<\/u>works differently than your typical phishing scam. The targeted user receives the message via WhatsApp or Facebook and is prompted to click on the link to participate in the contest. But instead of attempting to collect personal or financial information, the link simply redirects the victim to what appears to be a standard campaign site in Portuguese. When the victim clicks the buttons on the website, they are redirected to a third-party advertising site asking them to share the contest link with 20 of their friends. The scam authors, under the guise of being associated with Volkswagen, promise to contact the victims via Facebook once this task is completed.<\/p>\n

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As of now, we haven\u2019t seen indicators that participants have been infected by malicious software or had any personal information stolen as a result of this scam. But because the campaign link redirects users to ad servers, the scam authors are able to maximize revenue for the advertising network. This encourages malicious third-party advertisers to continue these schemes in order to make a profit.<\/p>\n

Tips to Dodge Fake Online Giveaways<\/h2>\n

The holidays in particular are a convenient time for cybercriminals to create more scams like this one, as users look to social media for online shopping inspiration. Because schemes such as this could potentially be profitable for cybercriminals, it is unlikely that phishing scams spread via social media will let up. Luckily, we’ve outlined the following tips to help dodge fake online giveaways:<\/p>\n