A CHARITY has issued a warning after fraudsters set up fake social media accounts in its name aimed at stealing a users personnel and financial details.
Wales Air Ambulance has said the fake Facebook and Instagram accounts were set up over the weekend.
The charity has now cancelled a competition it recently launched to win a VIP visit to an air base.
Scammers have been using the competition as a method to get users to click on links to a fake website.
The fake Facebook Page uses the Wales Air Ambulance Charity’s new ‘flying into the future’ branding which it launched on Friday.
Unlike the genuine one, the bogus Facebook page highlighted by the charity has an apostrophe after the word Air but multiple fake pages are likely to have been set up.
The link being pushed out by the scammers points users to a fake Wales Air Ambulance branded website hosted on Google Sites, a free web page creation tool.
The bogus website is clearly trying to gain credit card details from unsuspecting visitors.
The website states: “Congratulations, you are a lucky person who received a gift from us !!! Follow the final steps by clicking the registration button below! “REMEMBER” if you are required to enter a credit card number, select the “TRIAL” option for a free option. A credit card is just one of the requirements to verify your details!”
The website has a large ‘Click Here To Register’ button at the bottom of the page that directs users to yet another website which looks like a music streaming site.
Running the URL of the fake music site through a scam detecting service concludes, “This website has technical features that match with websites that have earlier been marked as a scam. Caution is required!”
Posting a warning on their Facebook page, a Wales Air Ambulance spokesperson said: “It has come to our attention that a fake Wales Air Ambulance account has been set up on Facebook.”
“This follows a fake Instagram account that was set up yesterday.”
“This fake account is asking you, our supporters, to register your details via a link. PLEASE DO NOT DO THIS. Their intentions are fraudulent.”
“It’s a sad world where somebody would want to target a lifesaving Charity.”
“Thank you for your support.”
If you have lost money as a result of social media phishing, or via any other fraudulent activity
Report it to Action Fraud, the UK’s national fraud reporting centre by calling 0300 123 20 40 or by visiting www.actionfraud.police.uk
