Southwest Airlines Giveaway: How The Scam Works
We've been receiving many messages from our readers regarding a fake Southwest Airlines Giveaway. The scam promotion is advertised these days on Facebook and offers two tickets (round trip flight) with Southwest, which can be redeemed anytime. The victims are required to visit a particular website in order to get the deal.
However, the Southwest Airlines giveaway on Facebook is not real and is not coming from the company. But people asked us to expose it. So, how does the Southwest Airlines scam work?
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Let's take a look at the screenshot below, featuring the fake promo:
The content of the bogus Southwest Airlines ad states: “We are currently operating our full flights 24/7 and we know that due to Covid-19 money is tighter more than ever! So we have decided to show our continued appreciation support to our loyal customers by awarding 500 people who share and comment by 9 PM Tuesday with a free round trip flight to their desired destination. After visit [compromised website] to validate your entry”.
Aside from the grammar mistakes and casual writing, this fake Southwest giveaway asks people to access a third-party website with nothing to do with the airline. If they click the link, the victims are required to fill in personal information, which, in turn, will lead to identity theft, so beware.
Here is what the real Southwest Airlines has to say about this fake offer:
“While we do offer very LOW fares, we are not currently offering FREE flights, as some of you may have seen on a fraudulent page. Always be sure to look for that little blue checkmark next to our page name, and make sure not to provide any of these scam pages with your personal information.”
Southwest Airlines Scam: How To Avoid
Like many other scams, this is just one of the plethora of phishing scams meant to steal your private info. Ignore and go ahead with your day. While we are exposing fraud related to travel, be also aware of schemes promising Free Airline Tickets and Airline Credit, scams that are going around as well.
How To Report The Southwest Airlines Giveaway on Facebook
Make your family and friends aware of the fake Southwest Airlines giveaway on Facebook by sharing this article on social media using the buttons provided. You can also officially report the scammers to Facebook and the Federal Trade Commission using the link below:
Report Scammers To The FTC Here
Report Scammers To Facebook Here
How To Protect Yourself More:
If you want to be the first to find out the most notorious scams every week, feel free to subscribe to the Scam Detector newsletter here. You'll receive periodic emails – we promise not to spam. Meanwhile, educate yourself with some other fraud-related articles right under this paragraph, so that you can protect yourself in many other aspects and niches. Last but not least, use the Comments section below to expose other scammers.
Here are some must-reads for the end:
Travel Scams: Full List
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I can tell a scam by looking at the return address. If an email says it is from Amazon, but the return address says “Lucydiamond@ftxvp45 ” I know that is not Amazon. Always look at the sender’s address.
keep up the good work