Fraudsters imitating the Valencia supermarket chain convince customers they have won a contest
According to official Police social media accounts, the fraudsters pose as the Valencian company and send an email, misleading customers into thinking they have won a fabulous prize. In order to claim the award, users must click on a link, which of course results in the scam artists having access to all of their personal data.
Taking to Twitter, the National Police have warned people who shop in Mercadona to be particularly suspicious if they are informed they have won a contest which they never actually entered, and advise consumers to always check the official website if in doubt, as these criminals often cleverly use email addresses very close to the original to fool their victims.
These types of scams are known as phishing, a technique in which a cybercriminal impersonates a known company or institution with the aim of stealing private information, making a financial charge or infecting the device. To do this, they attach infected files or links to pages using fraudulent emails, according to the National Institute of Cybersecurity of Spain (Incibe).
The key to spotting a scam, according to the experts, is to pay close attention to the wording, as these emails and messages often contain spelling mistakes and obvious grammatical errors.
Claro, claro… Tú, que no has participado en ningún concurso, has sido misteriosamente seleccionado para recibir productos gratuitos 🤔🤨
❌¡NO TE LO CREAS!❌ No es @mercadona
Y si tienes dudas contrasta siempre con la web oficial#NoPiques pic.twitter.com/ofORKR4igF
— Policía Nacional (@policia) September 21, 2021
Image: Archive
Source: Murcia Today
