Have I allowed myself to get [Facebook] scammed?

B0bbyEwing

Scrolling away this morning & saw an ad which caught my eye.

Get this [item] for [dirt cheap].

I thought ok this will be nonsense or a scam but on looking further the comments were full of people who'd received their item (apparently). I checked some profiles & they weren't the glossy photos that some scammers take off a Google images search, they APPEARED to be genuine profiles. 
And all I had to do was complete a survey, apparently.

So as I could be doing with the item for sale I took the survey, filled out my details & then came to payment. I think the Facebook ad said something like £2 but when I got to payment it was £2.50. I thought ok the price must've just gone up then - the mass of people with their I got mine posts still in my mind.

But then the next page was strange. It was trying to get me to sign up for some trial but apparently the trial was only a 2 hour window and after that you pay full amount - so I just exited which took me back to Facebook.

The amount £2.50 has been taken from my account, or at least is pending.

Listing was Decathlon - United Kingdom. 

The link took you to a 'festivepresents.shop' address although I'm sure that's different to when I checked at work. I've clicked ahead to see what happens just now & it says no duplicate IP found, which is surely odd as shouldn't my IP be the same as this morning?


It shows on my statement as 'Pyd Softskillsph.com'.

Scam?

Edit to add - just checked the browsing history on my phone as I was searching the site I was taken to earlier today and it does seem to have changed - I was taken to 'promo-offer.com' this morning.

When I first saw it I thought too good to be true but it was the number of people who seemingly got their item that made me think it must be legit?

victor2

As they say, "if it's too good to be true, it probably is."
Hit many many thousands of people on social media who think they can only lose £2 and away you go.
You've given away a lot of personal data and paid for the privilege. The holders of that data can now sell it and make more money.

B0bbyEwing

victor2 said:

As they say, "if it's too good to be true, it probably is."
Hit many many thousands of people on social media who think they can only lose £2 and away you go.
You've given away a lot of personal data and paid for the privilege. The holders of that data can now sell it and make more money.

Annoying because I usually spot these things and avoid. 

It was literally ONLY the sheer number of people in the comments replying to people saying that they got their item (often with a photo) that made me think well if it was dodgy then surely somewhere in the comments I'd find people saying that - but I didn't, it was quite the opposite. 

And that's why I went ahead with it. 

Kicking myself now though as should've been smarter than that. 

Eyeful

Scammers love to use social media sites to attract their victims. Some simple rules reduce the risk of getting hooked.

1. Do not click on links in emails, SMS text, or social media sites..
2. Scammers use surveys & prize draws to collect your personal data. Do not  just give it away to them!
3. Use a scam website checker to look up unknown websites before you buy online. Not full proof but helps a lot.

Example: The website you gave,  Softskillsph.com
https://www.scam-detector.com/validator/softskillsph-com-review/
https://www.scamdoc.com/view/2101260

Eyeful

As for promo-offer.com, that's on a blacklist!
https://www.scam-detector.com/validator/promo-offer-com-review/

B0bbyEwing

Thanks, wasn't aware of those URLs you gave. 

FlorayG

Don't feel too bad, they are very clever these days.
Just remember "Fool me once,shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me"

Eyeful

B0bbyEwing said:

Thanks, wasn't aware of those URLs you gave. 

Here are 2 more scam checker websites you might like to bookmark for future use:
https://check.getsafeonline.org/
https://fraud-detector.eu/test-the-reliability-of-websites/

B0bbyEwing

mortgageFTB said:

I would cancel your card and have a new one re-issued asap.

I would also keep an eye on your credit file to check for any identify theft going forward.

What details did you enter in this survey?

Name, address, email (gave one I don't use for banking), phone number. I think that was it. Card details (long number, exp date, 3 digits) obviously. 

I contacted Chase to cancel the transaction and request a new card this morning. They said they can't do anything until the payment is resolved which can take 7 days. 

B0bbyEwing

FlorayG said:

Don't feel too bad, they are very clever these days.
Just remember "Fool me once,shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me"

I'm finding they're becoming less obvious lately. At least to me that is. I had one a while ago where it looked totally legit so I contacted the company to check as I had a feeling & turned out to be scam/spam/not authentic. 

Like I say, if these Facebook profiles had the glossy magazine like photos as their profile pictures then I'd have twigged it was another scam, but they had what appeared to be genuine photos with profiles that appeared to date back years so I thought this one must be OK. 

Olinda99

you dont need a scam checking url - if it's on Facebook then it's a scam !