Facebook scam: TWO FREE Southwest Airline Tickets

Facebook scammers are once again exploiting ignorant victims with claims of freebies. Anyone who likes to travel is a potential victim – plane tickets are considered a luxury, and almost everyone wants to sometimes just get away.

This version says something along the lines of "TWO FREE Southwest Airline Tickets" followed by a link to a fraudulent website. It also has the following description, according to Sophos: "SW is currently giving away 2 tickets to any destination within the United States, only to a few select people."

Similar to previous Facebook scams, you need to share the link with your Facebook friends before proceeding. The webpage you are taken to tells you this is necessary to be eligible for the competition.

After sharing, you are then immediately told you have won an iPad 2 Color, a free cruise, or a free trip to somewhere in the Mediterranean.The scammers' goal is to drive more traffic towards certain sites. This is how the scammer earns his or her money: a commission for every survey completed, every product purchased, and/or every account compromised. They also use them to spread malware and obtain personal information.

As I've recommended before, if you see a scam like this one, report it. Then go check your own Wall to make sure you're not spreading the scam; the sooner you clean it up and unlike the page, the better. You can even contact Facebook Security if you'd like to.

See also:

• Facebook virus or account hacked? Here's how to fix it.
• Facebook releases official Guide to Facebook Security
• Experts: Facebook crime is on the rise
• Facebook con artist steals $366,000 from woman
• Fraudster jailed for stealing $57,000 by leveraging Facebook
• Facebook improves safety, security tools; experts not impressed
• Teenagers jailed for running "criminal equivalent of Facebook"