You did not win a gift card.

Good morning, folks!

Welcome back to Fraud Fridays! Today on the docket, we have a PSA!

You did not win a gift card. Commonly on messaging websites, users will receive messages or emails from spam/bot accounts stating that you have won a gift card. Here is a copy of a message I received on Reddit last month: “Our Reddit team chose YOU for our monthly raffle for a $100 gift card (Yay!) To collect go to: *insert malicious link here*”

Claiming, in this case, to be from a reddit mod team, they try to trick users into thinking it was an authentic subreddit contest. This is, of course, not the case. They are a scammer trying to extract personal information, or money, from users. I wish I could say that this was an isolated incident. The fact is, this scam is prevalent across the internet. From your email to your favorite forum, you will be certain to find a scammer. So, once more for clarity, YOU DID NOT WIN A GIFT CARD.

Thank you for stopping by this Friday morning and have a fantastic Friday!