A new scam on fake vouchers is rampant on social networks. - Screen capture

  • Facebook users have been posting for a few days on their page a link to a website supposed to deliver a 140 euros voucher to E.Leclerc stores.
  • It is actually a phishing attempt to extort victims' bank details or personal information.
  • This type of scam circulates regularly on social networks, Facebook in particular, so you have to be careful before clicking.

Could this also be the hour of the great deconfinement of online scammers (if indeed they took a break during the coronavirus crisis)? It's possible. For a few hours now, Facebook users have been relaying on their page a link to a website advertised like that of E.Leclerc supermarkets, like this gentleman who announces: “Leclerc is making gifts, let's take advantage of it !! Come on, I publish and I try to win a € 140 voucher. "

The link returns to a site with the enticing title: “E.Leclerc announced that all those who would share it would receive a free coupon of 140 euros. "At first glance, and without having a" Julien Courbet and all kinds of scams "diploma, this ad seems shady. So, we click, we do not click?

Here is a Facebook post from a user referring to the fraudulent site promising a voucher from E.Leclerc. - Screen capture

FAKE OFF

Before even going any further, just look at the address of the site in question to ask: www.eleclerc-hypermarches-best.grababstart.com. Without being an Internet pro, we would tend to find that this USL ending in a strange "best.grababstart.com" hides something fuzzy. However, as Martine Aubry said, "when it is blurry it is because there is a wolf". But crazy as we are, we decided to try the adventure and click on the link in question.

We then come across a very basic web page with, in the header, the logo of the E.Leclerc group and the date written in the most suspicious “English”: “Friday, June 5, 2020”. All right . The site then specifies that “E.Leclerc is in solidarity with the Nation [we imagine because of the economic and social crisis which accompanies the health crisis] and offers 140 euros of free coupons to all. Coupon valid until June 30 ”. All this is accompanied by a countdown obliging those who would like to benefit from this coupon not to waste too much time, as soon as budding Sherlock Holmes decide to dig a little and discover the pot of roses. Smart…

"Have you ever shopped at E.Leclerc? "

The site then offers to answer a short questionnaire before being able to benefit from the 140 euros voucher. Again, there are plenty of clues to think of a bogus site. Take the first question, for example: "Have you ever shopped at E.Leclerc? " According to the Larousse, the verb to shop effectively means "to go shopping at the store", but he specifies that this expression is only used in Canada. Damn for damn, hold up, we continue and we click "yes" with the mouse on our computer.

Finally, after answering the four questions, we are then told: "You have been qualified to obtain a free voucher of 140 euros! Here's how: 1. Share this page by clicking the “SHARE” button. 2. Click on "Claim a coupon" and enter your contact details. 3. Download the voucher ”. We're getting there!

But our experience will stop there. Indeed, when a shady site like this comes to ask for our personal information (email address, postal address, telephone number, etc.), it is best to close the page and report this site on that of the government. internet-signalement.gouv.fr. In comments on Facebook, a suspicious surfer actually confirms that the fraudulent site "requests bank card number ...". CQFD.

A recurring Facebook scam

You will understand, it is actually an attempted pishing set up to extort information about you or money. A simple search of the URL of the page on the sites (reliable) Who Is or Infomaniak, allows us to note that the fraudulent site was created on June 4, 2020 from Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas, located on the New Providence Island.

Finally, with regard to the so-called Facebook profiles that can be seen at the bottom of the page and which are supposed to convince us of the reliability of the offer, they are actually phony profiles generated by the RandomUser site. me. This site allows anyone who wants to quickly create false user profiles, usually with Anglo-Saxon-sounding names (Joann Green, Rachel Singleton, Christina Derry).

Under the form, fake Facebook accounts thank the brand. - Screenshot

Contacted by 20 Minutes , the government platform for assistance and prevention of digital risk explains to us that “this type of scam is indeed quite frequent and regularly returns in waves to the colors of all the major brands (Leclerc, Carrefour, Auchan, Lidl…). They generally spread virally on social networks by asking victims to share with their contacts so that they can benefit from the famous fake voucher. "

Indeed, this is not the first time that the “Fake Off” section of 20 Minutes has worked on this kind of fraudulent link (here, another Leclerc coupon, there, a coupon from Auchan)."We regularly publish on our social networks alerts on these phenomena which aim to steal personal or even bank data from the victims", we say on the side of the government's cyberbullying platform. Be careful, therefore, if you come across this kind of link. If you are wondering about the veracity of an offer like this, we invite you to visit the official Twitter account "Bons Plans E.Leclerc", which lists the real promotions or vouchers of the moment.

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