PUBLIC ALERT: Social Media Phishing Scam
It has come to our attention that a Scam / Phishing social media event page is currently circulating in Cork with the title “Total Wipeout Tour – Cork 2016.”
There is a number of these events currently circulating in the UK and have now been confirmed intact to be quite a good phishing / scam attempt.
Each of these events listed gain quite a lot of attention, seen above from the Cork “Tour” it has 16,000 interested parties, with 5,300 registered as “going” to the event.
The event which requires you to sign up for details, collects quite a large amount of personal data via an un-secure web form sending your details right back to the creator of the scam.
They seem to be setup for a number of Irish cities including Dublin, Cork and Limerick. The Dublin event itself raising the interest of 41,000 people!
The most concerning thing about all of these events is that the link to register your interest, is the same link and same form for each and every event. Currently, the form appears to have been taken down and the website displaying a “404” page not found error (which is great!)
This is a well thought up scam, a genius behind it we must say – but for all the unfortunate people who have submitted the information, its disheartening.
We’re not 100% as to what the organiser is doing with user details which are submitted, some theories are that the information is being passed onto businesses / being used for advertising purposes or that user details may be used in similar scams.
DO NOT click on any links provided by these social media events. DO NOT submit any personal information on a web form unless you are 100% sure of who you are sending the information to.
What do I do if I have already sent my information?
- If any credit or debit card information has been sent, call your issuing financial institution and have them cancel the card immediately.
- If a password has been submitted, immediately change any other passwords to other online services which may be similar to the one used in the phishing scam.
- Ensure your anti-virus software is up to date so that any further phishing websites are brought to your attention before you submit your information.