Southwest Airlines free tickets scams spread on Facebook

For some years now, Facebook users have been duped by survey scams that claim to offer them free airline tickets.

One of the brands which is most commonly exploited by the fraudsters is Southwest Airlines.

Here’s the latest bogus promotion which has been seen spreading on Facebook:

We're giving away 90 tickets to Las Vegas, 6 tickets per winner for you and your friends. (Up to 12 winners). Holiday and hotels are all paid for with $1,000 spending money.

To be entered to win all you have to do is the following:

1. LIKE and SHARE this photo!
2. To Claim Your Free Tickets Click the following link -->

[LINK]

and that's it!

Good Luck~ Southwest

Sadly, many people are all too easily duped into sharing and liking a photo like this, believing that they are helping their friends and loved ones win some free tickets to Las Vegas.

And if they’re prepared to “Like and Share” the photo, they’re also almost certain to click on the link.

Surprise, surprise. The webpage they are taken to attempts to trick them into taking an online survey.

Of course, the more people the fraudsters send to the online survey the more affiliate cash they make.

Unfortunately Facebook seems to be fighting a losing battle against scams like this, unable to prevent many of them from appearing in users’ timelines until it’s too late.

The best defence may well be to become better educated about the scams and attacks that spread on Facebook.

If you are on Facebook, and want to be kept updated with news about sthe latest scams, security and privacy risks, and tips on how to protect yourself online, join the Graham Cluley Security News Facebook page.

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Graham Cluley •   @gcluley

Graham Cluley is an award-winning keynote speaker who has given presentations around the world about cybersecurity, hackers, and online privacy. A veteran of the computer security industry since the early 1990s, he wrote the first ever version of Dr Solomon's Anti-Virus Toolkit for Windows, makes regular media appearances, and is the co-host of the popular "Smashing Security" podcast. Follow him on Twitter, Mastodon, Threads, Bluesky, or drop him an email.