Scammers have used WhatsApp to trick people into handing over personal information by tempting them with bogus supermarket vouchers.<\/p>\n
The messenger app was used to send fake vouchers to people, purporting to be from trusted chains such as Asda, Tesco and Aldi.<\/p>\n
The messages claimed to offer hundreds of pounds in savings so long as the user followed a link to an online survey asking for personal details.<\/p>\n
The scam is a form of phishing, where fraudsters pose as reputable organisations to gain personal details.<\/p>\n
Action Fraud, the UK’s national reporting centre for fraud and cyber crime, suggests anyone who has fallen victim to this scam\u00a0to report it online\u00a0or call 0300 123 2040.<\/p>\n
So far, 33 people have come forward to report falling victim to the scam, although it is unclear how many people have received the message.<\/p>\n
The scam works by using a link which appears almost identical to a supermarket chain’s legitimate website, but with one small difference.<\/p>\n
For example, in the screenshot above, the d in Aldi is actually a \u1e0d – a Latin character with a small dot underneath the recognisable letter.<\/p>\n
In the tweet below, the d in Asda has been replaced with \u0111 – another character known as a crossed D.<\/p>\n
According to Action Fraud, the survey urges victims to hand over their financial information.<\/p>\n
If, however, a person tries to visit the homepages for Aldi misspelled with the dotted character it sends them to an error page for a different website entirely.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, at time of writing, attempting to access the misspelled Asda site brings up a warning in some browsers.<\/p>\n
Upon completing the survey, the victim is urged to send the message to 20 other contacts in order to receive a \u00a3250 voucher.<\/p>\n
This helps legitimise the scam, says Action Fraud, as rather than being sent from a random number, the WhatsApp message comes from a trusted contact.<\/p>\n
However, it is unclear whether users may have been compromised simply by clicking on the link, as some on social media claimed that the message was shared without their contact’s consent.<\/p>\n