Free 1000 GB From Whatsapp? This Is A Massive Scam Called ‘Happy Birthday’, Dont’ Fall For It!

Whatsapp has recently completed 10 years and that too, with a lot of success. The app’s popularity is also increasing day by day.

However, this happy occasion of the social networking app has been a window of opportunity for fraudsters to fool people.

A message has been making the rounds of the internet, offering 1000 GB free data, which is nothing but a hoax. ESET, a security research firm has detected this fraud successfully, and is warning people not to trust such messages and save yourself from being a victim of online fraud.

Read on for all the details about this elaborate scheme hatched by fraudsters, named the ‘Happy Birthday’ scam.

Whatsapp Allegedly Offering 1000 GB Free Internet On Birthday

Researchers from ESET were on the receiving end of this misleading message, which allegedly offers 1000 GB free internet to their loyal customers. The text of the message says, ‘WhatsApp Offers 1000GB Free Internet!’, which is followed by a link that leads to a webpage. This webpage is good enough to fool an unaware person.

On opening, the website flaunts the logo of Whatsapp and an announcement, ‘We offer you 1000 GB free internet without Wi-Fi! On the occasion of our 10th anniversary of WhatsApp.’ In addition to that, there is a yellow sticker on the page that shows a countdown of the number of ‘rewards’ left, urging you to hurry. 

After this, it asks you to answer a few questions, which is followed by a request to share this message with a minimum of 30 users of Whatsapp, ‘You must first share the message to receive 1000 GB of free internet.’ 

Is This Harmful? ESET Researchers Uncover The Truth

As per the researchers at ESET, this scheme is simply deceptive, and as of now it cant be said that the link installs any malicious software or peeks into any personal information.

However, the researchers remarked that there is “no evidence that clicking the link led to the installation of malicious software or that there was any intention to phish for personal information, it doesn’t mean that this cannot change at any time.”

There have been other such attempts by fraudsters that involved big brands such as Adidas, Nestlé and Rolex, and more. Such schemes assure you free data, but you end up signing up for ‘premium and costly SMS services’. There is also the possibility that third party apps may be installed on your phone. 

We warn you to beware of such frauds, and not to fall prey to any schemes without performing a thorough check.