14 DAY TRIAL // A giveaway scam hosted on Tumblr is designed to lure unsuspecting users to a “free Steam games” websites by promising them that they can win a Nikon camera if they donate to cancer research.
According to ThreatTrack Security experts who have analyzed the scam, the scammy post appears to be hosted on a blog that might have been compromised. That’s because earlier posts are different from the one that tries to lure users to the “free Steam games” website.
The scammer informs users that he has bought a new camera so he’s giving away his old Nikon D3100.
“I recently bought a new camera so I am giving away my Nikon D3100. You don’t have to follow me. I will ship to anywhere. I will pick someone at random,” the post reads.
“All I ask is that you click here, which donates 30p to cancer research, 30p isn’t much but if many people click it then we can help raise money for a good cause! I will pick the winner on the 27th June, good luck.”
In reality, the link doesn’t point to a cancer research website, although at first glance, it appears it does. Instead, it takes victims to the “free Steam games” website.
ThreatTrack Security’s Chris Boyd says the site offers free Steam games to those who paste referral links on other websites.
The individual behind the camera giveaway scam is trying to acquire referral points.
However, as experts highlight, many of these referral sites don’t work.
“More often than not, the hapless link spreader receives nothing for their efforts, or acquires enough ‘referral points’ to be rewarded with a survey at the end of it all. At the other end of the scale, you could easily end up on a phishing page or worse if you’re not careful,” Boyd noted in a blog post.