Whatsapp scam warning - make sure you don’t fall for these cons

WhatsApp is the world’s most popular chat app, with over 1.5billion users each month and 55billion messages sent every day. And WhatsApp’s millions of users in the UK are being told to stay

vigilant to scam messages that may be popping up in the hugely popular app. Recently WhatsApp users have been told to stay on guard over TWO new scams that con artists are trying to trick

users with. The first of these WhatsApp scams targets customers of budget airline Ryanair. The hoax message features the Ryanair logo right at the top of it to make it seem more official. It

also claims the offer is running “only today” and gives a countdown to the number of free tickets allegedly left up for grabs. The message says: “Congratulations! You have qualified to

obtain 2 Free Tickets!”. The WhatsApp scam then asks victims to share the hoax message with 15 of their friends or groups to spread the fake offer further. WhatsApp users are then asked to

click a “claim tickets” button and enter their details. This is a common scam tactic to help phish for sensitive details of victims. After completing these steps the WhatsApp user is

promised they will then be sent their ‘free tickets’. But, as the Ryanair Twitter account pointed out, the budget airliner does not have an official presence on WhatsApp. They tweeted:

“Please beware of a fake WhatsApp promotion offering free Ryanair tickets. “Ryanair is not active on WhatsApp and the only place to win Ryanair flights is on our official Facebook and

Twitter accounts, both of which have the ‘blue tick’ verification”. The second scam claims to offer free tickets to Alton Towers. The spoof message is attempting to trick fans of the popular

app into handing over personal details by giving them the chance to grab free tickets to the theme park. The clever scam, which even includes fake Facebook posts from winners of the

tickets, gets people to answer questions before asking for their details to be entered. Alton Towers has confirmed that this is not an official post or competition from them and has warned

customers to be wary of the offer. A spokesperson from the theme park said: "We are aware of a ticket offer being shared on social media that claims to be from Alton Towers Resort.

"This is NOT a genuine offer, or in any way affiliated with Alton Towers. Action is being taken to remove this offer and we urge guests not to share their personal details or forward

the offer to their contacts. "The safest way to buy tickets is always to go directly to our website www.altontowers.com."