The senders claim that they have won a voucher worth 750 euros for Mediamarkt.
A new attempt at fraud is currently underway. As the Lower Saxony State Criminal Police Office warns, this time the fraudsters are targeting users of the Viber messenger service.
This is rather unusual as such campaigns mostly target WhatsApp. Since WhatsApp has recently lost millions of users to other messengers due to the disputed terms of use, the fraudsters now seem to be expanding their machinations to these messenger alternatives.
750 euro voucher
In the current campaign, the fraudsters pose as competition operators. They promise a voucher for Mediamarkt in the amount of 750 euros. All you have to do is fill out an anonymous questionnaire on the “Viber Gifts” website.
If you follow the link, you will be redirected to another URL. The website there is in the style of Mediamarkt, the logo also appears there.
According to the website, the operator is CEOO Marketing GmBH. The data protection conditions correctly state that brand owners or manufacturers, which in this case would be Mediamarkt, have nothing to do with the website.
Data is being collected
The survey promised on Viber is by no means anonymous. For example, your name, gender, address and email address are required. Then other questions, such as insurance, should be answered. Participation in a competition will then be confirmed. There is no longer a word to be read from the promised voucher.
It can be assumed that in the best case scenario you will only receive spam and mail advertising and the operator of this website will sell the data on to everyone who pays for it. In the worst case, the information forms the basis for targeted attempts at fraud, up to and including the delivery of invoices for subscriptions that have not been taken out. Somewhere in between there are tracking cookies and possibly malware and espionage software that can be captured by visiting such a website.
